Hour of Need MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Instant
Abilities	Strive
Released	2014-05-02
Set symbol
Set name	Journey into Nyx
Set code	JOU
Number	40
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Jesper Ejsing

Key Takeaways

Card advantage is gained by upgrading creatures into 4/4 flying Sphinx tokens for a quality boost.
Instant speed allows strategic play, using ‘Hour of Need’ reactively to surprise opponents.
‘Hour of Need’ can be a deck constraint, needing specific mana and leading to hand depletion.

Text of card

Strive — Hour of Need costs more to cast for each target beyond the first. Exile any number of target creatures. For each creature exiled this way, its controller puts a 4/4 blue Sphinx creature token with flying onto the battlefield.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: With Hour of Need, the power to transform any number of creatures into 4/4 flying Sphinx tokens can dramatically shift the board’s dynamics in your favor. Although it doesn’t draw you cards directly, by upgrading your existing creatures, you effectively create a card quality advantage over your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: While Hour of Need doesn’t accelerate resources in the traditional sense, it can quickly bring powerful flyers onto the field. This rapid deployment can act as a makeshift acceleration by applying pressure and forcing opponents to respond to a suddenly more threatening board state much earlier than expected.

Instant Speed: As an instant, Hour of Need provides flexibility, allowing you to adapt swiftly to the moving pieces of the game. You can hold back mana and use Hour of Need reactively, either as a surprise blocker during your opponent’s attack phase or at the end of their turn for an offensive strike on your next turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the limitations of Hour of Need is its inherent discard requirement. This can be a detrimental trade-off in game states where retaining card advantage is crucial. Each spell that necessitates discarding pushes the player one step behind in hand resources, and using Hour of Need could potentially lead to undesirable depletion of your hand.

Specific Mana Cost: Hour of Need comes with a specific mana cost that may not seamlessly fit into every deck archetype. With a casting cost that includes blue mana, it’s inherently restricted to decks that can produce blue mana consistently. This constraint can be a strategy limiter in multicolor decks that may struggle with mana fixing or in mono-colored decks of a different hue.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When evaluating the card’s efficiency, Hour of Need’s mana cost can be a bit steep for its immediate impact. At four mana, this card competes with numerous other options that could potentially offer more immediate board presence or game-swinging effects. The relatively high cost might make it a less attractive option for players looking to optimize their strategies with lower cost spells that provide similar or more diverse effects.

Reasons to Include Hour of Need in Your Collection

Versatility: Hour of Need can transform any number of creatures into 4/4 flying Sphinx tokens, offering a flexible response to various board states while also scaling well in multiplayer games.

Combo Potential: This card’s synergy with strategies that generate numerous creatures can instantly upgrade your battlefield presence, turning a swarm of small tokens into a phalanx of considerable aerial threats.

Meta-Relevance: With many decks focusing on creature-based strategies, Hour of Need serves as an excellent tool for surprise blocks or for quickly pivoting into an aggressive stance, making it a dynamic inclusion in a shifting meta.

How to beat Hour of Need

Hour of Need is an intriguing card known for its ability to swiftly transform creatures into 4/4 flying Sphinx tokens. This gives players a sudden aerial advantage, a factor that often swings the game in their favor. Typical strategies to counter this involve removing creatures before the spell is cast, thus negating the transformation and leaving the Hour of Need without targets.

Playing around Hour of Need also involves holding onto instant-speed removal. Spells like Murder or Path to Exile can disrupt the play by eliminating the Sphinx token as it hits the board. Some players might also opt to utilize counterspells, countering Hour of Need directly. Spell Swindle or Negate are appropriate choices here, ensuring the threat never materializes.

Deck building with Hour of Need in mind includes incorporating cards that don’t rely on creature control. This strategy makes the transformative aspect less impactful. Enchantment-based decks or those focusing on direct damage can circumvent Hour of Need’s strengths, as the change in creature types becomes irrelevant to their path to victory.

Cards like Hour of Need

Hour of Need stands out as a transformative instant in Magic: The Gathering, offering players the unique ability to replace their creatures with 4/4 Sphinx tokens with flying. This function bears similarity to cards like Pongify or Rapid Hybridization, which also replace creatures but with smaller, less potent tokens. Hour of Need, however, brings more power to the skies with its larger token creation.

Reality Shift shares the concept of permanently dealing with creatures by exiling them, but instead it provides the opponent with a face-down card that could potentially be another creature. In this case, Hour of Need gives you more direct control over the battlefield outcome. Another related card, Curse of the Swine, exiles multiple creatures and replaces them with 2/2 Boar tokens. While effective for mass removal, it does not provide the aerial advantage that Hour of Need’s Sphinx tokens offer.

Thus, in the realm of creature replacement spells, Hour of Need holds a distinctive position. It isn’t just about removing threats; it’s about advancing one’s board presence with formidable flying Sphinx tokens, making it a versatile pick for players who want to shift the game’s momentum in their favor.

Cards similar to Hour of Need by color, type and mana cost

Thirst for Knowledge - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Hour of Need MTG card by a specific set like Journey into Nyx, 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 Hour of Need and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Hour of Need has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2014-04-26	If a spell or ability allows you to cast a strive spell without paying its mana cost, you must pay the additional costs for any targets beyond the first.
2014-04-26	If all of the spell's targets are illegal when the spell tries to resolve, it won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. If one or more of its targets are legal when it tries to resolve, the spell will resolve and affect only those legal targets. It will have no effect on any illegal targets.
2014-04-26	If such a spell is copied, and the effect that copies the spell allows a player to choose new targets for the copy, the number of targets can't be changed. The player may change any number of the targets, including all of them or none of them. If, for one of the targets, the player can't choose a new legal target, then it remains unchanged (even if the current target is illegal).
2014-04-26	The mana cost and mana value of strive spells don't change no matter how many targets they have. Strive abilities affect only what you pay.
2014-04-26	You choose how many targets each spell with a strive ability has and what those targets are as you cast it. It's legal to cast such a spell with no targets, although this is rarely a good idea. You can't choose the same target more than once for a single strive spell.