41 – 60 of 116 cards where the text includes “target creature” and (the text includes “that creature's controller” or the text includes “its controller” or the text includes “target creature's controller”) and the cards don’t become permanents
Eye to Eye {2}{B}
Instant
You and target creature’s controller have a staring contest. If you win, destroy that creature.
True, Gargox had blinded himself for life, but the glass eyes never lost.
Illustrated by Michael Sutfin
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Not Legal
- Explorer
- Not Legal
- Modern
- Not Legal
- Historic
- Not Legal
- Legacy
- Not Legal
- Brawl
- Not Legal
- Vintage
- Not Legal
- Timeless
- Not Legal
- Commander
- Not Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Not Legal
- Penny
- Not Legal
Fateful Absence {1}{W}
Instant
Destroy target creature or planeswalker. Its controller investigates. (Create a Clue token. It’s an artifact with “{2}, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.”)
Sensing a plot, Sorin raced to his grandfather’s resting-crypt. But someone else had gotten there first.
DailyMTG Story Spotlight
Illustrated by Eric Deschamps
- Standard
- Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Legal
- Explorer
- Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Legal
| Faces, Tokens, & Other Parts |
|---|
| Fateful Absence, MID #328 |
| Clue Token, TMID #16 |
First Volley {1}{R}
Instant — Arcane
First Volley deals 1 damage to target creature and 1 damage to that creature’s controller.
“We searched their bodies for signs of the blades that had killed them, but found nothing more than scorched flesh.”
—Tender-Hand, kitsune healer
Illustrated by Glen Angus
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Not Legal
- Explorer
- Not Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Not Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Not Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Not Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Legal
Flame Spill {2}{R}
Instant
Flame Spill deals 4 damage to target creature. Excess damage is dealt to that creature’s controller instead.
Fragile, floating Skysail suddenly seemed like an appealingly safe place to live.
Illustrated by Zoltan Boros
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Legal
- Explorer
- Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Not Legal
Flesh Allergy {2}{B}{B}
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Destroy target creature. Its controller loses life equal to the number of creatures that died this turn.
Watermark: Phyrexian
Illustrated by Vance Kovacs
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Not Legal
- Explorer
- Not Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Not Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Not Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Not Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Legal
Flunk {1}{B}
Instant
Target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is 7 minus the number of cards in that creature’s controller’s hand.
“I assure you, no one fails my course more than once.”
—Embrose, Silverquill dean
Illustrated by Randy Vargas
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Legal
- Explorer
- Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Not Legal
Fodder Launch {3}{B}
Tribal Sorcery — Goblin
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a Goblin.
Target creature gets -5/-5 until end of turn. Fodder Launch deals 5 damage to that creature’s controller.
Leave it to a boggart to come up with a projectile as disgusting as it is deadly.
Illustrated by Nils Hamm
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Not Legal
- Explorer
- Not Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Not Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Not Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Not Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Legal
Friendly Fire {3}{R}
Instant
Target creature’s controller reveals a card at random from their hand. Friendly Fire deals damage to that creature and that player equal to the revealed card’s mana value.
“Never tell goblins to ‘fire at will.’”
—Urut Barzeel, Mardu hordechief
Illustrated by Anthony Palumbo
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Legal
- Explorer
- Not Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Not Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Not Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Not Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Not Legal
Gandalf's Sanction {1}{U}{R}
Sorcery
Gandalf’s Sanction deals X damage to target creature, where X is the number of instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard. Excess damage is dealt to that creature’s controller instead.
There was a crack, and the staff split asunder in Saruman’s hand, and the head of it fell down at Gandalf’s feet.
Illustrated by Tatiana Veryayskaya
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Legal
- Pioneer
- Not Legal
- Explorer
- Not Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Not Legal
Get Lost {1}{W}
Instant
Destroy target creature, enchantment, or planeswalker. Its controller creates two Map tokens. (They’re artifacts with “{1}, {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Target creature you control explores. Activate only as a sorcery.”)
Illustrated by Eli Minaya
- Standard
- Legal
- Alchemy
- Legal
- Pioneer
- Legal
- Explorer
- Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Not Legal
Glacial Grasp {2}{U}
Instant
Tap target creature. Its controller mills two cards. That creature doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step. (They put the top two cards of their library into their graveyard.)
Draw a card.
Illustrated by Tomasz Jedruszek
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Legal
- Explorer
- Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Legal
Gloomlance {3}{B}{B}
Sorcery
Destroy target creature. If that creature was green or white, its controller discards a card.
Death stings the victim only once, but those left behind feel the pain of loss with every passing memory.
Illustrated by Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Not Legal
- Explorer
- Not Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Not Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Not Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Not Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Not Legal
Grip of the Roil {2}{U}
Instant
Surge {1}{U} (You may cast this spell for its surge cost if you or a teammate has cast another spell this turn.)
Tap target creature. It doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step.
Draw a card.
Illustrated by Volkan Baǵa
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Legal
- Explorer
- Not Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Not Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Not Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Not Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Not Legal
Hands of Binding {1}{U}
Sorcery
Tap target creature an opponent controls. That creature doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step.
Cipher (Then you may exile this spell card encoded on a creature you control. Whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player, its controller may cast a copy of the encoded card without paying its mana cost.)
Watermark: Dimir
Illustrated by Raymond Swanland
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Legal
- Explorer
- Not Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Not Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Not Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Not Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Legal
Hour of Glory {3}{B}
Instant
Exile target creature. If that creature was a God, its controller reveals their hand and exiles all cards from it with the same name as that creature.
The gods of the trials also faced the opportunity to prove themselves worthy.
Watermark: Planeswalker
DailyMTG Story Spotlight
Illustrated by Svetlin Velinov
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Legal
- Explorer
- Not Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Not Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Not Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Not Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Legal
Hour of Need {2}{U}
Instant
Strive — This spell costs {1}{U} more to cast for each target beyond the first.
Exile any number of target creatures. For each creature exiled this way, its controller creates a 4/4 blue Sphinx creature token with flying.
Illustrated by Jesper Ejsing
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Legal
- Explorer
- Not Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Not Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Not Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Not Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Legal
| Faces, Tokens, & Other Parts |
|---|
| Hour of Need, JOU #40 |
| Sphinx Token, TJOU #1 |
| Prints | USD | EUR | TIX |
|---|---|---|---|
| Journey into Nyx | $0.13 | €0.18 | 0.03 |
Hunted by The Family {5}{U}{U}
Sorcery
Choose up to four target creatures you don’t control. For each of them, that creature’s controller faces a villainous choice — That creature becomes a 1/1 white Human creature and loses all abilities, or you create a token that’s a copy of it.
Illustrated by Darren Tan
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Not Legal
- Explorer
- Not Legal
- Modern
- Not Legal
- Historic
- Not Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Not Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Not Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Not Legal
| Faces, Tokens, & Other Parts |
|---|
| Hunted by The Family, WHO #952 |
| Copy Token, TWHO #33 |
| Prints | USD | EUR | TIX |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Who #46 | $0.12 | €0.29 | |
| Doctor Who #361 | $0.33 | ||
| Doctor Who #651 | ✶ $0.85 | ||
| Doctor Who #952 | ✶ $0.61 | ||
| View all prints → | |||
Illuminate {X}{R}
Sorcery
Kicker {2}{R} and/or {3}{U} (You may pay an additional {2}{R} and/or {3}{U} as you cast this spell.)
Illuminate deals X damage to target creature. If this spell was kicked with its {2}{R} kicker, it deals X damage to that creature’s controller. If this spell was kicked with its {3}{U} kicker, you draw X cards.
Illustrated by Christopher Moeller
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Not Legal
- Explorer
- Not Legal
- Modern
- Not Legal
- Historic
- Not Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Not Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Not Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Legal
Incubation {G/U}
Sorcery
Look at the top five cards of your library. You may reveal a creature card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
Incongruity {1}{G}{U}
Instant
Exile target creature. That creature’s controller creates a 3/3 green Frog Lizard creature token.
Watermark: Simic
Illustrated by Mike Bierek
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Not Legal
- Pioneer
- Legal
- Explorer
- Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Not Legal
| Faces, Tokens, & Other Parts |
|---|
| Incubation // Incongruity, CLU #197 |
| Frog Lizard Token, TLCC #13 |
| Prints | USD | EUR | TIX |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ravnica: Clue Edition | $0.14 | €0.17 | |
| The List | $0.23 | ||
| Commander 2021 | $0.12 | €0.10 | |
| Ravnica Allegiance | $0.12 | €0.28 | 0.03 |
| View all prints → | |||
Isildur's Fateful Strike {2}{B}{B}
Legendary Instant
(You may cast a legendary instant only if you control a legendary creature or planeswalker.)
Destroy target creature. If its controller has more than four cards in hand, they exile cards from their hand equal to the difference.
Isildur cut the Ring from Sauron’s hand with the hilt-shard of his father’s sword, and Sauron himself was overthrown.
Illustrated by John Di Giovanni
- Standard
- Not Legal
- Alchemy
- Legal
- Pioneer
- Not Legal
- Explorer
- Not Legal
- Modern
- Legal
- Historic
- Legal
- Legacy
- Legal
- Brawl
- Legal
- Vintage
- Legal
- Timeless
- Legal
- Commander
- Legal
- Pauper
- Not Legal
- Oathbreaker
- Legal
- Penny
- Legal