Aggressive Sabotage MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Kicker
Released	2022-09-09
Set symbol
Set name	Dominaria United
Set code	DMU
Number	78
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Daarken

Key Takeaways

Aggressive Sabotage couples opponent disruption with deck filtering ability, benefiting your strategic depth.
Moderate mana cost and precise color requirements limit flexibility but provide powerful control elements.
Effective against artifact and enchantment-based decks, it remains a meta-relevant card due to its versatility.

Text of card

Kicker (You may pay an additional as you cast this spell.) Target player discards two cards. If this spell was kicked, it deals 3 damage to that player.

Squee's orders basically came down to "attack the squishy parts."

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Aggressive Sabotage shines by disrupting your opponent’s strategy while simultaneously digging deeper into your deck to find the resources you need. Its ability to force your opponent to discard gives you a leverage in the card count war.

Resource Acceleration: Unleashing Aggressive Sabotage at the right moment can accelerate your game plan by costing your opponent critical resources. It sets back your opponent’s mana development or key strategic pieces, effectively giving you a speed edge in the race to establish a dominating board presence.

Instant Speed: Flexibility is where Aggressive Sabotage truly excels. With the capacity to cast this at instant speed, you can adapt to the ever-changing game state, disrupting your opponent’s moves during the most opportune times. This tactical advantage allows you to better manage your own strategy while keeping the opposition off-balance.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Deploying Aggressive Sabotage comes with the stipulation that you must discard a card. This can be a strategic setback, especially when you’re playing a tight game with an already depleted hand.

Specific Mana Cost: Aggressive Sabotage demands a precise blend of mana colors to cast. This can be restrictive and often necessitates deck adjustments to ensure the required mana is readily available.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value that’s on the higher side, Aggressive Sabotage may fall behind in a race against decks that opt for lower-cost disruption. This has implications for deck tempo and could feasibly cost you the upper hand in crucial moments of play.

Reasons to Include Aggressive Sabotage in Your Collection

Versatility: Aggressive Sabotage offers a flexible role in various deck types, providing critical disruption against opponents. Its ability to target artifacts and enchantments means it can adapt to a range of threats, solidifying its place in sideboards and main decks alike.

Combo Potential: This card shines when integrated into strategies geared towards controlling the board. By removing key components of your opponent’s setup, you can hinder their strategy while setting up your own winning conditions, proving that Aggressive Sabotage can be a linchpin in a well-crafted combo.

Meta-Relevance: With an ever-shifting landscape of popular decks, being prepared for artifact and enchantment-heavy strategies is crucial. Aggressive Sabotage keeps you one step ahead of the meta, ensuring that your arsenal is equipped to deal with prevalent threats and giving you an edge in competitive play.

How to beat

Aggressive Sabotage has carved out its place in Magic: The Gathering as a disruptive force on the battlefield. This card stands out by offering players a method to upset an opponent’s strategy while accelerating their own game plan. When facing such an obstacle, understanding its mechanics can greatly increase your chances of overcoming it.

To effectively counter Aggressive Sabotage, a strategic approach is to utilize cards that grant you hexproof or that give your permanents indestructible, thereby shielding your assets from its conditional destruction effect. Additionally, baiting the card out with less critical spells or playing low-cost creatures can exhaust your opponent’s Aggressive Sabotage and pave the way for your high-value cards to enter the battlefield safely.

Employing instant-speed spells that can reactively respond to Aggressive Sabotage is also a tactic to consider. Being able to cast spells during your opponent’s turn or in response to the Sabotage guarantees a level of control over the board state. With these methods, players can navigate the challenges posted by Aggressive Sabotage and maintain the upper hand in their games.

Cards like Aggressive Sabotage

Aggressive Sabotage carves its niche within the realm of counter spells in Magic: The Gathering. It draws parallels with other staples like Counterspell itself, which is a straightforward answer to any spell at the cost of two blue mana. Yet, Aggressive Sabotage manages to shake things up with its additional ability to surveil, granting you the power to filter your library and set up future draws which Counterspell lacks.

Another peer in this space is Sinister Sabotage. It shares the surveil advantage with Aggressive Sabotage, but costs one more mana for a total of three. This additional cost can impact the pace of your gameplay. On the cheaper end of the spectrum, there’s Essence Scatter. This spell is more restrictive as it only targets creatures, but its low cost makes it a tempting choice for players aiming to disrupt their opponent’s early creature-based strategies effectively.

Aggressive Sabotage, with its combined utility of countering and deck manipulation, stands as a strong choice among these options. It hits a sweet spot for players looking to maintain control while strategically improving their hand and library.

Cards similar to Aggressive Sabotage by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Aggressive Sabotage MTG card by a specific set like Dominaria United, 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 Aggressive Sabotage and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Aggressive Sabotage has restrictions

Format	Legality
Standard	Legal
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Future	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Brawl	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2022-09-09	If you kick Aggressive Sabotage, it deals 3 damage to that player in addition to making them discard two cards, not instead of making them discard two cards.