Memory Theft MTG Card


Memory Theft grants information and disrupts opponents, significantly influencing MTG gameplay. Its instant speed provides flexibility and a tactical advantage during crucial game moments. However, Memory Theft’s cost and color specificity may limit its versatility in various decks.
Memory Theft - Throne of Eldraine
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery
Released2019-10-04
Set symbol
Set nameThrone of Eldraine
Set codeELD
Number96
Frame2015
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred byMicah Epstein

Text of card

Target opponent reveals their hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card. You may put a card that has an Adventure that player owns from exile into that player's graveyard.

In the wilds, the ravens steal far more than baubles.


Cards like Memory Theft

Memory Theft presents itself as an intriguing option for Magic: The Gathering players interested in hand disruption techniques. This spell shares similarities with cards like Thought Erasure. Both disrupt opponents by revealing their hand and allowing you to choose a nonland card to be discarded. Yet, Memory Theft goes a step further, allowing you to cast a spell with flashback from your opponent’s graveyard. This additional layer not only deprives your opponent of resources but turns their tools against them.

There’s also Unburden, another card that forces a two-card discard. Unlike Memory Theft, Unburden doesn’t offer the potential to use your opponent’s spells, but it operates at the same mana cost. Duress also enters the discussion with its lower casting cost, targeting only noncreature, nonland cards. Although it doesn’t remove the card from the game like Memory Theft could, it’s a staple for early-game strategic planning.

By comparing these various disruptions spells, Memory Theft stands out by offering a diverse range of tactical advantages in Magic: The Gathering—an essential for decks that thrive on their opponents’ setbacks and are crafted to exploit every advantage gleaned from a peek into the adversary’s hand.

Thought Erasure - MTG Card versions
Unburden - MTG Card versions
Duress - MTG Card versions
Thought Erasure - MTG Card versions
Unburden - MTG Card versions
Duress - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Memory Theft by color, type and mana cost

Darkpact - MTG Card versions
Demonic Attorney - MTG Card versions
Jovial Evil - MTG Card versions
Infernal Contract - MTG Card versions
Touch of Death - MTG Card versions
Wicked Pact - MTG Card versions
Nature's Ruin - MTG Card versions
Buried Alive - MTG Card versions
Choking Sands - MTG Card versions
Brush with Death - MTG Card versions
Coercion - MTG Card versions
Hand of Death - MTG Card versions
Forced March - MTG Card versions
Stupor - MTG Card versions
Soul Burn - MTG Card versions
Noxious Vapors - MTG Card versions
Mind Rot - MTG Card versions
Crippling Fatigue - MTG Card versions
Flaying Tendrils - MTG Card versions
Victimize - MTG Card versions
Darkpact - MTG Card versions
Demonic Attorney - MTG Card versions
Jovial Evil - MTG Card versions
Infernal Contract - MTG Card versions
Touch of Death - MTG Card versions
Wicked Pact - MTG Card versions
Nature's Ruin - MTG Card versions
Buried Alive - MTG Card versions
Choking Sands - MTG Card versions
Brush with Death - MTG Card versions
Coercion - MTG Card versions
Hand of Death - MTG Card versions
Forced March - MTG Card versions
Stupor - MTG Card versions
Soul Burn - MTG Card versions
Noxious Vapors - MTG Card versions
Mind Rot - MTG Card versions
Crippling Fatigue - MTG Card versions
Flaying Tendrils - MTG Card versions
Victimize - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Memory Theft not only disrupts your opponent’s carefully laid plans by removing a key card from their hand, but it also grants you the invaluable insight into their upcoming moves. This information lets you adjust your strategy accordingly, giving you a clear advantage on the battlefield.

Resource Acceleration: Besides providing crucial information, Memory Theft facilitates resource acceleration by potentially discarding a card with an advantageous graveyard ability. This can synergize with various deck strategies that capitalize on cards in the graveyard, effectively becoming an unexpected accelerator for your game plan.

Instant Speed: The power of Memory Theft is amplified by its instant speed, allowing you to disrupt your opponent during their most vulnerable moments, such as in the middle of setting up a combo or in response to them drawing a card. This flexibility can catch your adversary off guard, upending their tempo and providing you with a significant tactical edge during critical phases of the game.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Memory Theft’s mechanics hinge on discarding a card, which can be a setback if your hand is already sparse. This may force you to lose valuable cards that could be essential for your strategy or future turns.

Specific Mana Cost: Memory Theft’s mana cost is restricted to black, making it less versatile across a wider range of deck types. This limits its playability to predominantly black or compatible two-color decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost of three mana—two of which are black—Memory Theft commands a notable amount of resources for its effect. In a game where efficiency is key, this could slow down your pace and reduce dynamic play options in the early game.


Reasons to Include Memory Theft in Your Collection

Versatility: Memory Theft shines in various deck builds that aim to disrupt opponent strategies. By forcing opponents to reveal their hand and select a nonland card to discard, it works well in control or midrange decks, covering your bases against unpredictable threats.

Combo Potential: In decks centered around discard mechanics and benefiting from opponents’ graveyard content, this card can be a linchpin. It potentially synergizes with cards that reap benefits from the number of cards in an opponent’s graveyard or punish players for a smaller hand size.

Meta-Relevance: With the ever-shifting landscape of competitive play, Memory Theft has its place as a sideboard star or main deck choice in a meta teeming with combo decks. It can dismantle an opponent’s carefully sculpted hand and throw a wrench into their plans, keeping you one step ahead in the match-up.


How to beat Memory Theft

Memory Theft presents a unique challenge in the realm of hand disruption in Magic: The Gathering. With its ability to extract a noncreature, nonland card from the opponent’s hand and force them to play that card or otherwise lose it, the strategic implications are significant. To successfully navigate against Memory Theft, savvy play revolves around timing and management of one’s own hand. Holding onto a variety of card types, especially instant spells that can be played in response to the disruption, can mitigate the potential loss of a valuable sorcery or enchantment. Additionally, deck diversity is key – employing creatures and lands with built-in abilities offers alternative plays beyond the reach of Memory Theft’s effect.

Another tactic is leveraging redundancy within your deck, ensuring that losing a single card won’t cripple your strategy. Lastly, incorporating cards that benefit from being in your graveyard or that can return from the graveyard to your hand can turn Memory Theft’s downside to your advantage. By thinking ahead and integrating these elements, overcoming the strategic hurdle posed by Memory Theft becomes a manageable aspect of the game rather than a devastating setback.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Memory Theft MTG card by a specific set like Throne of Eldraine, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Memory Theft and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Memory Theft has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Memory Theft card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2019-10-04 An effect may refer to a card, spell, or permanent that “has an Adventure.” This refers to a card, spell, or permanent that has an adventurer card's set of alternative characteristics, even if they're not being used and even if that card was never cast as an Adventure.
2019-10-04 If an effect refers to a creature card, creature spell, or creature that has an Adventure, it won't find an instant or sorcery spell on the stack that's been cast as an Adventure.
2019-10-04 Memory Theft allows you to put any face-up exiled card with an Adventure that player owns into their graveyard, not just one that was cast as an Adventure and exiled.
2019-10-04 You choose which exiled adventurer card, if any, to put into that player's graveyard after seeing their hand. You may do this even if that player has no nonland cards in hand, or even no cards at all.