Discovery // Dispersal MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost7
RarityUncommon
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. Discovery // Dispersal enhances card selection and sets up future draws, ensuring strategic play progression.
  2. Dispersal can disrupt resource balance, tilting the game in your favor with its instant speed utility.
  3. While powerful, the discard requirement and specific mana costs require careful deck integration.

Text of card

Each opponent returns a nonland permanent they control with the highest converted mana cost among permanents they control to its owner's hand, then discards a card.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Discovery // Dispersal provides a substantial edge by allowing you to surveil two, helping you sift through your deck for key cards and setting up your draw, and potentially drawing a card. This ensures that every draw step brings you closer to your strategic objectives.

Resource Acceleration: While this split card doesn’t directly accelerate resources in the traditional sense of adding mana, Dispersal can disrupt your opponent’s resource base by forcing them to return their highest-cost spell to their hand. This can set them back and effectively accelerate your position relative to theirs.

Instant Speed: The Dispersal half of this card operates at instant speed, offering the flexibility to respond to your opponent’s actions on their turn. You can wait for the optimal moment to bounce a troublesome permanent and make them discard a card, all while keeping mana open for other potential plays.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: When engaging with the Dispersal half of this dual-faceted card, the compulsory discard can be a tricky stipulation, particularly if your hand is already holding valuable keys to your strategy. This requirement can lead to a tough decision-making process, where the cost of discarding might just outweigh the benefits gleaned from the spell itself.

Specific Mana Cost: Discovery prompts for a flexible mana investment, welcoming a broader inclusion across various decks. However, Dispersal’s rigid mana demand – exacting both blue and black – could potentially hinder its seamless integration, especially for those decks that are not strictly aligned with the Dimir color pair.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While Dispersal provides a robust avenue to disrupt your opponent’s gameplay, its cost is considerable. Five mana for a single, albeit impactful, opponent-targeting effect often pales in comparison to other spells in the format that can either affect all opponents or offer additional upside for the same, if not lower, mana investment.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Discovery // Dispersal allows players to selectively filter through their deck with the Discovery portion, while also offering a means to disrupt opponents with Dispersal. This split card can be a game changer in controlling the flow of play, adapting to various situations on the battlefield.

Combo Potential: The ability to surveil with Discovery can set up the perfect graveyard conditions for powerful combo plays, paving the way for synergies with cards that thrive on graveyard interaction. Plus, Dispersal can bounce key cards back to an opponent’s hand, potentially clearing the path for a decisive turn.

Meta-Relevance: In a gaming environment dense with powerful permanents and tight resource management, the flexibility to either dig for answers or disrupt opponent strategies makes Discovery // Dispersal a card to watch. Its aptitude to be relevant in various metas makes it an intelligent addition to decks that aim to dictate game tempo and outmaneuver the competition.


How to beat

Discovery // Dispersal is a unique split card in Magic the Gathering that offers both utility and disruption, adding a layer of versatility to your deck-building strategy. Discovery allows for deck manipulation and card draw, advancing your game plan by sifting through your deck to find key pieces. On the flip side, Dispersal acts as a control tool, compelling opponents to return a nonland permanent to their hand and discard if their hand is overfilled.

To effectively counter this card, consider strategies that minimize the impact of both of its components. For Discovery, playing with graveyard synergies can help you capitalize on the cards that are surveilled away. Having cards with flashback or other abilities that allow you to play from the graveyard turns a potential loss into an advantage. In terms of Dispersal, maintaining a low hand size can mitigate the discard effect. Moreover, cards that grant you hexproof protect you from being targeted by Dispersal’s ability, while uncounterable spells or permanents with indestructible are out of Dispersal’s reach, thus reducing its utility.

Overall, when up against Discovery // Dispersal, the key is to adapt your play style to nullify the advantage it provides, either by using your graveyard as a resource or by employing cards that shield you from its disruptive effects.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering MTG requires an astute understanding of the mechanics and potential of each card. Discovery // Dispersal is a prime example of a card that can both accelerate your strategy and disrupt your opponent’s. We recommend incorporating it into your collection for its undeniable versatility and the tactical depth it adds to any game. While it shines in decks tailored to its strengths, it also requires a nuanced understanding to wield effectively. For those looking to sharpen their control strategies or capitalize on card synergy, learning more about this split card can provide a significant edge. Let us guide you through optimizing your deck with Discovery // Dispersal and other strategic assets.


Cards like Discovery // Dispersal

Discovery // Dispersal is a versatile split card from MTG’s Guilds of Ravnica set, offering players two distinct options during their games. On the Discovery side, it bears resemblance to the strategic card selection seen in cards like Preordain, which allows players to look at the top two cards of their library and put any of them on the bottom of the library. Yet, Discovery extends its influence by surveilling two cards and then drawing a card, thus providing a slight edge in card quality and advancement.

As for the Dispersal half, the card is often compared to the likes of Evacuation or Cyclonic Rift due to its potential to return nonland permanents to their owners’ hands. However, Dispersal targets only the opponent with the most powerful nonland permanent and also forces them to discard a card if their hand is full, which can disrupt the opponents’ strategy more subtly.

Overall, the dual nature of Discovery // Dispersal offers not only the deck filtering and draw capabilities of benchmark spells like Preordain but also a tactical advantage in board control similar to Evacuation, with the added psychological impact of hand disruption. This duality makes it a distinct and multifaceted choice for deck building in MTG.

Preordain - MTG Card versions
Evacuation - MTG Card versions
Cyclonic Rift - MTG Card versions
Preordain - Magic 2011 (M11)
Evacuation - Stronghold (STH)
Cyclonic Rift - Return to Ravnica (RTR)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Discovery // Dispersal MTG card by a specific set like Guilds of Ravnica and Murders at Karlov Manor Commander, 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 Discovery // Dispersal and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Discovery // Dispersal Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2018-10-05 and 2024-02-23. Illustrated by Mark Behm.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12018-10-05Guilds of RavnicaGRN 2232015splitblackMark Behm
22024-02-09Murders at Karlov Manor CommanderMKC 2072015splitblackMark Behm
32024-02-23Ravnica: Clue EditionCLU 1872015splitblackMark Behm

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Discovery // Dispersal has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

DateText
2018-10-05 As Dispersal resolves, first the next opponent in turn order (or, if it’s an opponent’s turn, that opponent) chooses a nonland permanent they control with the highest mana cost among those permanents, then each other opponent in turn order does the same, knowing the choices made before them. Then all the chosen permanents are returned at the same time. Next, each opponent in the same order chooses a card in hand without revealing it, then the chosen cards are discarded at the same time.
2018-10-05 If a permanent has in its mana cost, X is considered to be 0.
2018-10-05 If an opponent controls only lands as Dispersal resolves, that player won’t return any permanent to their hand. They’ll still discard a card.
2018-10-05 When you surveil, you may put all the cards you look at back on top of your library, you may put all of those cards into your graveyard, or you may put some of those cards on top and the rest of them into your graveyard.
2018-10-05 You perform the actions stated on a card in sequence. For some spells and abilities, you’ll surveil last. For others, you’ll surveil and then perform other actions.

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