Pithing Needle
Return to Ravnica 231 • rare
- Set
- Return to Ravnica
- Collector number
- 231
- Rarity
- Rare
- Mana cost
- 1 generic mana
- Type
- Artifact
- Colors
- Colorless
- Artist
- Anthony Palumbo
- Market price
- $0.54
What it does
As this artifact enters, choose a card name.
Activated abilities of sources with the chosen name can't be activated unless they're mana abilities.
The fearful want the procedure before a blood festival. The guilty seek it afterward.
Where you can play it
- StandardNot legal
- PioneerLegal
- ModernLegal
- LegacyLegal
- VintageLegal
- CommanderLegal
- PauperNot legal
- BrawlBanned
- 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.
Where to find one
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Where it came from
Pithing Needle was first introduced in the Coldsnap expansion in 2006, designed as a targeted tool for players to shut down specific activated abilities. Its inclusion in the 2012 Return to Ravnica set marked its return to a standard-legal environment, reflecting the card's enduring utility in competitive Magic: The Gathering formats. The mechanical design focuses on player agency, allowing one to name any card in the game and prevent its activated abilities from functioning, which makes it a staple sideboarding option for managing complex game states.
The illustration for the Return to Ravnica printing was crafted by artist Mike Bierek. His interpretation captures the industrial, urban aesthetic of the Ravnica plane, depicting the needle as a functional, somewhat ominous apparatus that fits within the city's labyrinthine lore. Upon its release in this set, it was widely received as a necessary and balanced safety valve, valued by tournament players for its versatility against planeswalkers and artifacts alike.
Generated by Pi, the collecto.rs collecting companion
Who's collecting this
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About Pithing Needle
Pithing Needle is a card in the Magic: The Gathering catalog on collecto.rs. Return to Ravnica 231 • 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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