Don't Try This at Home MTG Card


Generates card advantage and mana boost for early powerful spells casting potential. Instant speed play adds flexibility, responding effectively to opponent’s moves. Demands discard upon play; the high mana cost can hinder deck performance.
Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeEnchantment
Un-set :-)This card is part of an Un-set

Text of card

If a hot source you control would deal damage to a player or permanent, it deals that much damage plus 1 instead. (Something is hot if it has hot things in its art, like fire or explosions.) , Sacrifice Don't Try This at Home: It deals damage equal to twice the number of hot cards in your graveyard to target creature or planeswalker.


Cards like Don't Try This at Home

The unique mechanics of Don’t Try This at Home brings a fresh twist to Magic: The Gathering’s enchantment pool. Its ability to turn a sacrifice into a random creature summon makes it intriguing. Its closest relatives in the enchantment category include cards like Indomitable Creativity, which also transforms your own permanents into something potentially more beneficial. However, Don’t Try This at Home does this at the cost of creatures only and adds a randomness factor that can make or break a game situation.

Another card with a somewhat similar gamble is Chaos Warp. While Chaos Warp affects permanents and potentially disrupts opponents, it carries the unpredictability that draws a parallel to Don’t Try This at Home’s creature-centric focus. On the flip side, Omen Machine restricts both players from drawing cards and puts them at the mercy of the top deck, embodying a different form of game-altering randomness.

Evaluating them side by side, Don’t Try This at Home stands out by providing MTG deck builders a fun, high-risk, high-reward strategy that can create sudden shifts in the game’s momentum, all without compromising your hand or mana resources.

Indomitable Creativity - MTG Card versions
Chaos Warp - MTG Card versions
Omen Machine - MTG Card versions
Indomitable Creativity - MTG Card versions
Chaos Warp - MTG Card versions
Omen Machine - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Don't Try This at Home by color, type and mana cost

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Fire Whip - MTG Card versions
Emblem of the Warmind - MTG Card versions
Power Surge - MTG Card versions
Raging River - MTG Card versions
Smoke - MTG Card versions
Goblin Kites - MTG Card versions
The Brute - MTG Card versions
Giant Strength - MTG Card versions
Lightning Reflexes - MTG Card versions
Errantry - MTG Card versions
Goblin Festival - MTG Card versions
Scald - MTG Card versions
Cave Sense - MTG Card versions
Flowstone Surge - MTG Card versions
Maniacal Rage - MTG Card versions
Battle Strain - MTG Card versions
Goblin Bombardment - MTG Card versions
Underworld Breach - MTG Card versions
Lightning Rift - MTG Card versions
Fractured Loyalty - MTG Card versions
Fire Whip - MTG Card versions
Emblem of the Warmind - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: “Don’t Try This at Home” rewards players with card selection, giving you access to your deck’s most impactful spells when you need them.

Resource Acceleration: This card offers a substantial increase in mana, enabling you to cast high-cost spells much earlier than usual and dominate the battlefield.

Instant Speed: The ability to play “Don’t Try This at Home” at instant speed provides flexibility, allowing you to respond to an opponent’s actions or threats effectively and with surprise.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Don’t Try This at Home demands that a card be discarded when you play it, which can be detrimental to your hand, especially if you’re already playing from behind.

Specific Mana Cost: This card requires a precise combination of mana, including both red and another color. This specificity can be restrictive, tying the card’s usefulness to decks that can comfortably produce both types of mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost that is on the higher end of the spectrum for its effects, players might find that when it comes to optimizing their deck’s performance, other cards might deliver similar or better outcomes without such a steep investment.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Don’t Try This at Home offers strategic flexibility to your decks with its unique ability to cast creatures from the graveyard. This card has the power to bring back creatures for a surprise factor in a variety of game situations.

Combo Potential: This card shines when assembled with graveyard-based strategies, enabling you to exploit creature death triggers or recurring threats that opponents may struggle to deal with permanently.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment where graveyard manipulation is key, Don’t Try This at Home secures a pivotal role. It can effectively disrupt opponents’ plans and maintain board presence, which is essential in shifting metas.


How to beat

Don’t Try This at Home is an inventive card that MTG players need to approach with caution. Chiefly seen in chaos or group play formats, it turns the game on its head by modifying the rules every turn. To tackle this unpredictable card, the key is maintaining adaptability. Players should prioritize a flexible mana base and a diverse set of spells in their deck construction to respond effectively to the ever-shifting rules. It’s also beneficial to focus on cards with static abilities that are less affected by rule changes.

A solid strategy against Don’t Try This at Home involves leveraging instants that can be played at opportune moments, rendering the rule changes less disruptive to your game plan. Additionally, having an array of creature types can prove advantageous, mitigating the impact of restrictions that limit the use of certain spells or abilities based on creature characteristics. Indubitably, patience and strategic timing are your allies in outmaneuvering your opponent and neutralizing the chaotic essence of Don’t Try This at Home.

Ultimately, triumphing over this card demands flexibility, careful planning, and a willingness to quickly adjust strategies. By preparing for uncertainty and capitalizing on moments when the ever-changing rules can be turned to your advantage, players can navigate the challenges posed by Don’t Try This at Home and maintain control of the game.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Don't Try This at Home MTG card by a specific set like Unfinity and Unfinity, 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 Don't Try This at Home and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Don't Try This at Home Magic the Gathering card was released in 1 different sets between 2022-10-07 and 2022-10-07. Illustrated by Tyler Walpole.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12022-10-07UnfinityUNF 3912015NormalBlackTyler Walpole
22022-10-07UnfinityUNF 1052015NormalBlackTyler Walpole

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Don't Try This at Home card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2022-10-07 Don’t Try This at Home has received a minor update to its rules text. The first ability is a replacement effect, not a triggered ability. The updated wording appears above.
2022-10-07 Hot refers to temperature, not physical attractiveness, internet trendiness, or any other non-temperature-related meanings. Hot items may include objects that are traditionally hot, such as flames or the sun, or they may also include objects that are shown to be hot, such as a magic sword melting the item it’s touching.
2022-10-07 If another effect modifies how much damage your hot source would deal, including preventing some of it, the player being dealt damage or the controller of the permanent being dealt damage chooses an order in which to apply those effects. If all of the damage is prevented, Don’t Try This at Home’s effect no longer applies.
2022-10-07 If damage dealt by a hot source you control is being divided or assigned among multiple permanents an opponent controls or among an opponent and one or more permanents they control, divide the original amount before adding 1. For example, if you attack with a 5/5 hot creature with trample and your opponent blocks with a 2/2 creature, you can assign 2 damage to the blocker and 3 damage to the defending player. These amounts are then modified to 3 and 4, respectively.
2022-10-07 The additional 1 damage is dealt by the same source as the original source of damage. The damage isn’t dealt by Don’t Try This at Home unless it is the original source of damage. Note that while it is the source of damage for its activated ability, it won’t be on the battlefield as that ability resolves and its first ability won’t increase the damage it deals. (However, if it’s still in the graveyard at that time, it will count itself, as it is very much a hot card.)
2022-10-07 The hot thing doesn’t need to be the focus of the illustration, nor does it need to be the actual card being depicted. It just needs to be somewhere in the art. It could even be a sticker.