Painful Quandary
The Brothers' War 111 • rare
- Set
- The Brothers' War
- Collector number
- 111
- Rarity
- Rare
- Mana cost
- 3 generic mana black mana black mana
- Type
- Enchantment
- Colors
- Black
- Artist
- David Palumbo
- Market price
- $1.81
What it does
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, that player loses 5 life unless they discard a card.
In Mishra's desperation to destroy his brother, he allowed Gix to destroy him instead.
Where you can play it
- StandardLegal
- PioneerLegal
- ModernLegal
- LegacyLegal
- VintageLegal
- CommanderLegal
- PauperNot legal
- BrawlLegal
- HistoricLegal
- TimelessLegal
- Penny DreadfulLegal
- OathbreakerLegal
Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. Card text via Scryfall. Not approved or endorsed by Wizards. As of the last catalogue refresh.
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Where it came from
Painful Quandary was introduced in the 2022 expansion set The Brothers' War, which revisited the iconic conflict between Urza and Mishra that serves as the foundation for the Magic: The Gathering lore. The card is a reprint of an enchantment originally debuted in the Scars of Mirrodin set, re-contextualized within the high-stakes, industrial-warfare aesthetic of the Brothers' War setting to represent the agonizing tactical decisions faced by the warring factions.
The artwork for this version was commissioned to reflect the grim, mechanical atmosphere of the set, emphasizing the cost of power through the lens of the Phyrexian-inflected conflict. It functions as a punishing resource-taxing permanent, a design that has historically been well-regarded by players who enjoy stax or control archetypes that dictate the pace and resource management of a game.
Written by Pi, the helpful collecto.rs AI
Who's collecting this
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About Painful Quandary
Painful Quandary is a card in the Magic: The Gathering catalog on collecto.rs. The Brothers' War 111 • rare. Catalog data is sourced from Scryfall. No public cards collectors track this one yet — adding yours would make you the first on collecto.rs.
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