Reversal of Fortune MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 6 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Sorcery |
| Released | 2004-06-04 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Fifth Dawn |
| Set code | 5DN |
| Number | 77 |
| Frame | 2003 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Greg Hildebrandt |
Key Takeaways
- Gives a possible card advantage by letting players use top cards from an opponent’s library.
- Instant-speed casting provides strategic flexibility during gameplay.
- However, it has a high cost and requires discarding a red card, limiting some strategies.
Text of card
Target opponent reveals his or her hand. You may copy an instant or sorcery card in it and play the copy without paying its mana cost.
"Why learn hundreds of spells when you can learn only one and use it to steal hundreds?"
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Reversal of Fortune is designed to potentially provide a massive card advantage by revealing the top four cards of your opponent’s library and allowing you to play those cards.
Resource Acceleration: While not directly providing traditional acceleration, by leveraging your opponent’s resources, Reversal of Fortune can lead to a gain in momentum as you utilize their spells and land drops to expand your own board state.
Instant Speed: As an instant, Reversal of Fortune offers flexibility and strategic depth, letting you wait until the most opportune moment to disrupt an opponent or benefit from their well-curated library.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Reversal of Fortune requires the player to exile a red card from their hand in addition to paying its mana cost. This can be a substantial drawback, especially in situations where hand size is already diminished and every card counts.
Specific Mana Cost: With a stringent requirement of both generic and red mana, Reversal of Fortune may not seamlessly fit into multi-colored or colorless decks, potentially reducing its flexibility and overall utility across various deck archetypes.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Sporting a mana cost that is significant, this card competes with other high-impact spells and abilities. Players may find that the cost of casting Reversal of Fortune might not always equate to a favorable payoff, especially when there are other cards that could provide similar or better outcomes for less investment.
Reasons to Include Reversal of Fortune in Your Collection
Versatility: With its unique ability to cast spells from your opponent’s deck, Reversal of Fortune can be a game-changer in various formats. Its place in any collection is justified by its potential to adapt to numerous strategies and situations.
Combo Potential: This card opens up avenues for inventive combos, empowering players to harness the strengths of their opponents’ decks. Its ability to integrate into complex plays makes it a valuable asset for those seeking to outmaneuver opponents through cunning tactics.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta that’s heavily influenced by key spells and strategies, having access to Reversal of Fortune can provide a critical edge. It enables players to disrupt their opponents’ plans and utilize their own power plays against them, which can be instrumental in shifting the tide of a game.
How to beat
Reversal of Fortune presents a unique challenge on the battlefield, allowing players to look at an opponent’s library and cast a card without paying its mana cost. Dealing with this powerful effect requires a strategic plan. Ensuring your library isn’t full of game-changing spells that could backfire is key. This can involve adjusting strategies, such as relying on versatile cards that are less impactful when played by an opponent.
To mitigate the effects of Reversal of Fortune, consider incorporating instant-speed shuffle effects that can disrupt your library before the spell resolves. Cards like Field of Ruin that can shuffle your or your opponent’s library are a smart addition. You could also employ counter spells to prevent Reversal of Fortune from resolving in the first place or graveyard interactions such as Tormod’s Crypt to limit the advantages your adversary can glean from your deck. In particular, strategies that utilize large amounts of draw or self-mill actions should be used cautiously, as they can inadvertently benefit your opponent when facing this cunning spell.
Ultimately, by being aware of the turns leading up to your opponent’s potential casting and by having a plan in place, your decks can be better equipped to handle the surprise and potentially game-altering effects of Reversal of Fortune.
Cards like Reversal of Fortune
Reversal of Fortune stands out as a unique twist to the spell casting experience in Magic: The Gathering. It shares conceptual space with cards like Praetor’s Grasp, which also delve into an opponent’s library, allowing a peek into their strategy. However, Reversal of Fortune offers the unexpected possibility of directly playing a card from an opponent’s deck, adding surprise and variability to the game.
Another related card, Gonti, Lord of Luxury, approaches this gameplay by letting you look at the top four cards of an opponent’s library and exile one of them with the option to cast it later. While it limits your choices, it maintains secrecy and grants more control over timing compared to the spontaneous nature of Reversal of Fortune. Moreover, compared to these alternatives, Reversal of Fortune does not require you to pay the mana cost of the exiled card, which can be an incredible upside in scenarios where high-cost cards are involved.
Reviewing these cards, it becomes apparent that, although Reversal of Fortune might seem risky due to its uncertainty and cost, the potential reward of casting any card without paying its mana cost gives it a formidable presence among its counterparts, potentially flipping the game on its head.
Cards similar to Reversal of Fortune by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Reversal of Fortune MTG card by a specific set like Fifth Dawn, 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 Reversal of Fortune and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Reversal of Fortune has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Reversal of Fortune card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2004-12-01 | If the copied card is a split card, you may choose to cast either side of the split card but not both. |
| 2004-12-01 | If you don’t want to cast the copy, you can choose not to; the copy ceases to exist the next time state-based actions are checked. |
| 2004-12-01 | Reversal of Fortune creates a copy of the card in the other player’s hand, then allows you to cast the copy from that player’s hand without paying its mana cost. |
| 2004-12-01 | The spell is cast from your opponent’s hand, not yours, which can be important for some cards. |
| 2004-12-01 | You can’t cast the copy if an effect prevents you from casting instants or sorceries, or from casting that particular instant or sorcery. It doesn’t matter whether your opponent can cast the card at this time; the only thing that matters is whether you can cast it. |
| 2004-12-01 | You can’t cast the copy unless all of its targets, if any, can be chosen. |
| 2004-12-01 | You cast the copy while this ability is resolving and still on the stack. Normally, you’re not allowed to cast spells or activate abilities at this time. Reversal of Fortune provides an exception. |
| 2004-12-01 | You don’t pay the spell’s mana cost. If the spell has X in its mana cost, X is 0. You do pay any additional costs for that spell. You can’t use any alternative costs. |
| 2005-03-01 | The creation of the copy and then the casting of the copy are both optional. |
