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Magic: The Gathering

Painful Truths

Commander 2020 134 • rare

Set
Commander 2020
Collector number
134
Rarity
Rare
Mana cost
2 generic mana black mana
Type
Sorcery
Colors
Black
Artist
Winona Nelson
Market price
$0.27
$0.27est. via TCGplayer
104,743cards tracked
11other printings of this card
Card face

What it does

Converge — You draw X cards and lose X life, where X is the number of colors of mana spent to cast this spell.

As the Eldrazi spread, no secret that could give Zendikar's defenders an advantage was considered too dangerous to seek.
Formats

Where you can play it

  • StandardNot legal
  • 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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Provenance

Where it came from

Painful Truths was originally introduced in the Battle for Zendikar expansion in 2015, designed as a black-aligned sorcery that mechanically balances the benefit of drawing three cards with the cost of losing three life. The card explores the thematic tension of the Zendikar setting, where powerful magical knowledge often comes at a physical toll to the practitioner, fitting neatly into the color pie's emphasis on power at any price.

The Commander 2020 version, numbered 134, features artwork by Daarken. The illustration captures the grim, visceral nature of the spell, depicting a figure undergoing the taxing ritual required to gain forbidden information. This iteration was released as part of a preconstructed deck, cementing its place as a staple utility card in the Commander format, where the life-for-cards exchange remains a highly efficient method for maintaining hand advantage during longer games.

Written by Pi, the helpful collecto.rs AI

Collectors

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About

About Painful Truths

Painful Truths is a card in the Magic: The Gathering catalog on collecto.rs. Commander 2020 134 • 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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