Confiscation Coup MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityRare
TypeSorcery

Key Takeaways

  1. Card advantage is gained by controlling an opponent’s creature or artifact, thus impacting the board balance.
  2. Despite the high energy cost, it disrupts an opponent’s strategy and may provide resource acceleration.
  3. Versatility and synergy make it a strong addition to control decks with energy mechanics.

Text of card

Choose target artifact or creature. You get (four energy counters), then you may pay an amount of equal to that permanent's converted mana cost. If you do, gain control of it.

"Citizens, do not resist. This is for your safety. Tezzeret bids you to surrender your inventions. Now."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Confiscation Coup lets you gain control of an opponent’s creature or artifact, effectively acting as a two-for-one by increasing your board presence while decreasing theirs.

Resource Acceleration: Despite not directly producing resources, using Confiscation Coup can accelerate your game plan by taking key pieces from your opponent’s strategy, potentially providing you with additional mana sources or utility.

Instant Speed: While Confiscation Coup is a sorcery, its impact on the game can be immediate and disruptive, akin to an instant-speed removal effect that leaves you with the permanent instead.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Confiscation Coup doesn’t require you to discard a card, it does have a steep acquisition cost in terms of energy counters. Players must manage these resources carefully or face not being able to utilize the card when needed.

Specific Mana Cost: Confiscation Coup demands a blend of one blue and four other mana units. This specific mana requirement means that the card is best suited for decks that can reliably produce blue mana, potentially limiting its inclusion in multicolor decks that are not blue-centric.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At a total of five mana to cast, the card is on the expensive side for control measures. Players may find that there are other control options available that are more mana-efficient, especially if they are playing a deck that aims to maintain tempo and apply pressure from the early stages of the game.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Confiscation Coup is a dynamic addition to any deck capitalizing on control elements. It provides the means to turn the tide by taking control of an opposing threat, an action that can swing games in your favor across multiple formats.

Combo Potential: This card has synergy with strategies that look to exploit the energy mechanic. Beyond its immediate impact, it can be part of intricate combos that revolve around gaining and using energy in creative ways, adding layers to your gameplay.

Meta-Relevance: Given the right environment, Confiscation Coup stands as a powerful response to creature-centric decks that dominate your playgroup or the competitive scene. Appropriating key creatures can dismantle an opponent’s plan and provide you an upper hand.


How to beat

Confiscation Coup is a potent spell in MTG that can shift the balance of a game by allowing a player to gain control of an opponent’s most powerful creature or artifact. This control-changing dynamic makes it a card that players should prepare to face. Combatting Confiscation Coup effectively requires a proactive strategy and a well-constructed deck. Players can incorporate instant-speed removal or counterspells such as Negate or Disallow to disrupt the coup before it takes effect.

Other strategies involve minimizing high-value targets for your opponent to seize. Utilizing cards like Hexproof creatures prevents them from becoming targets of a Confiscation Coup. Additionally, inexpensive sacrifice effects, such as those found on cards like Viscera Seer or Village Rites, allow you to remove your own creatures from the battlefield in response, rendering the coup unsuccessful. It is essential for players to maintain a diverse toolkit of spells to preserve their board presence against disruptive plays like Confiscation Coup.

Ultimately, being able to adapt to the situation and employing clever foresight can provide the edge needed to navigate around such a powerful control card and keep your most valuable assets safe on the battlefield.


Cards like Confiscation Coup

In Magic: The Gathering, Confiscation Coup stands out for its ability to shift the balance of power by taking control of an opponent’s creature or artifact. In terms of similar spells, Control Magic is a direct comparison, allowing players to permanently seize control of a target creature. While Control Magic entails ongoing possession as an enchantment, Confiscation Coup includes the additional benefit of Energy counters, providing further utility beyond the initial control effect.

Another peer in this specific niche is Expropriate. This spell goes a step beyond by offering a choice between Time and Money counters, resulting in potential extra turns or control of any permanent, not just creatures or artifacts. Though Expropriate is considerably more expensive regarding mana cost, its impact can be game-ending. Similarly, Dragonlord Silumgar delivers a similar control effect, but it’s attached to a creature that can also steal Planeswalkers, a subtlety that makes it a versatile and dynamic choice within decks.

By comparing the nuances and the tactical advantages of these spells, it becomes clear that Confiscation Coup offers a compelling choice for players looking to leverage energy mechanics while disrupting their opponent’s board state.

Control Magic - MTG Card versions
Expropriate - MTG Card versions
Dragonlord Silumgar - MTG Card versions
Control Magic - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Expropriate - Conspiracy: Take the Crown (CN2)
Dragonlord Silumgar - Dragons of Tarkir (DTK)

Cards similar to Confiscation Coup by color, type and mana cost

Library of Lat-Nam - MTG Card versions
Psychic Transfer - MTG Card versions
Balance of Power - MTG Card versions
Cruel Fate - MTG Card versions
Temporal Manipulation - MTG Card versions
Ancestral Memories - MTG Card versions
Brilliant Plan - MTG Card versions
Time Warp - MTG Card versions
Reverse Engineer - MTG Card versions
Invoke the Winds - MTG Card versions
Essence Fracture - MTG Card versions
Rush of Knowledge - MTG Card versions
Temporal Fissure - MTG Card versions
Bribery - MTG Card versions
Acquire - MTG Card versions
Petals of Insight - MTG Card versions
Heed the Mists - MTG Card versions
Ribbons of the Reikai - MTG Card versions
Reduce to Dreams - MTG Card versions
Tidings - MTG Card versions
Library of Lat-Nam - Alliances (ALL)
Psychic Transfer - Starter 1999 (S99)
Balance of Power - The List (PLST)
Cruel Fate - Portal (POR)
Temporal Manipulation - The List (PLST)
Ancestral Memories - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Brilliant Plan - Treasure Chest (PZ2)
Time Warp - Explorers of Ixalan (E02)
Reverse Engineer - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Invoke the Winds - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Essence Fracture - Onslaught (ONS)
Rush of Knowledge - Double Masters (2XM)
Temporal Fissure - Vintage Masters (VMA)
Bribery - Commander Masters (CMM)
Acquire - IDW Comics 2014 (PI14)
Petals of Insight - Modern Masters (MMA)
Heed the Mists - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Ribbons of the Reikai - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Reduce to Dreams - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Tidings - Commander 2018 (C18)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Confiscation Coup MTG card by a specific set like Kaladesh and Kaladesh Promos, 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 Confiscation Coup and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Confiscation Coup Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2016-09-30 and 2020-11-12. Illustrated by Joseph Meehan.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-09-30KaladeshKLD 412015normalblackJoseph Meehan
22016-09-30Kaladesh PromosPKLD 41s2015normalblackJoseph Meehan
32020-11-12Kaladesh RemasteredKLR 452015normalblackJoseph Meehan

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Confiscation Coup has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

DateText
2016-09-20 If a permanent has in its mana cost, X is considered to be 0.
2016-09-20 If the target artifact or creature has a mana value of 0, you may choose to pay zero energy and gain control of it.
2016-09-20 In a multiplayer game, if a permanent's owner leaves the game after you've gained control of it, the permanent leaves with that player. If you leave the game before that player, the control-change effect ends.
2016-09-20 The mana value of a token that isn't a copy of another object is 0. A token that is a copy of another object has the same mana cost as that object.
2016-09-20 You choose the target artifact or creature as you cast Confiscation Coup. You don't choose whether or not to pay an amount of until Confiscation Coup resolves. If the target becomes an illegal target, Confiscation Coup won't resolve and you won't get .
2017-02-09 Energy counters are a kind of counter that a player may have. They're not associated with specific permanents. (Other kinds of counters that players may have include poison and experience.)
2017-02-09 Energy counters aren't mana. They don't go away as steps, phases, and turns end, and effects that add mana “of any type” to your mana pool can't give you energy counters.
2017-02-09 If an effect says you get one or more , you get that many energy counters. To pay one or more , you lose that many energy counters. Any effects that interact with counters a player gets, has, or loses can interact with energy counters.
2017-02-09 Keep careful track of how many energy counters each player has. You may do so by keeping a running count on paper, by using a die, or by any other clear and mutually agreeable method.
2017-02-09 You can't pay more energy counters than you have.
2017-02-09 is the energy symbol. It represents one energy counter.
2018-01-19 There are many important moments in the story, but the most crucial—called “story spotlights”—are shown on cards. These cards have the Planeswalker symbol in their text box; this symbol has no effect on gameplay. You can read more about these events in the official Magic fiction at http://www.mtgstory.com.

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