Living Wish MTG Card
2002-05-27 - Number 124
2002-08-14 - Number bk124
2008-01-01 - Number 5
2018-03-16 - Number 179
2002-06-24 - Number 35068
| Card sets | Released in 5 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Sorcery |
Text of card
Choose a creature or land card you own from outside the game, reveal that card, and put it into your hand. Remove Living Wish from the game.
He wished for growth, but not for a way to control it.
Cards like Living Wish
Living Wish is a unique card that opens up the strategic potential in a player’s game, drawing comparisons to other wish-style cards in Magic: The Gathering. It shares the concept with Glittering Wish, allowing players to fetch a multicolored card from outside the game. Living Wish, however, is more flexible as it can retrieve a creature or land card, offering broader tactical maneuvers.
Cunning Wish and Death Wish also complement this broad category, each with their own conditions and advantages. Cunning Wish exclusively fetches instant cards, potentially providing a swift answer to an opponent’s threat. Meanwhile, Death Wish is broader in scope, allowing access to any card from outside the game but at the cost of paying half your life rounded up. The risk-reward nature of Death Wish is far more aggressive compared to the safer play Living Wish provides.
Sifting through these choices, Living Wish strikes a balance between versatility and safety, earning its place in the MTG landscape. It’s neither as restrictive as Cunning Wish nor as dangerous as Death Wish, nestling into a sweet spot that enables a diverse range of strategies without excessive compromise.
Cards similar to Living Wish by color, type and mana cost
Decks using this card
MTG decks using Living Wish. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.
| # | Name | Format | Archetype | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Paradoxical Outcome | Vintage | Paradoxical Outcome | Vintage League 2024-04-24 |
 | Nic Fit | Legacy | Sultai Depths | 3 Etapa - 3 Liga Legacy Jundia |
 | WUG | Legacy | Legacy Showcase Challenge 2024-02-18 | |
 | Aluren | Legacy | Aluren | $1K - Legacy - SCG CON Hartford - Friday - 1:00 pm |
 | Golgari Depths | Legacy | Sultai Depths | South Wales Legacy Showcase |
 | Dinostorm | Legacy | Untap.in Open League | |
 | The Epic Storm | Legacy | The EPIC Storm | Eternal Challenge 23 |
 | Bant Sphinx Ramp | Free form | Set Roulette Feburary 2024 | |
 | Enchantress | Premodern | $1K - Pre-Modern - SCG CON Hartford - Sunday - 9:30 am | |
| Sultai Aluren | Legacy | Aluren | Legacy League 2023-12-16 |
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Living Wish grants players the unique ability to choose a creature or land from outside the game, increasing the options at your disposal without diminishing your hand.
Resource Acceleration: By selecting the ideal land, Living Wish can serve as an accelerant, ensuring that you have the necessary mana for critical plays or paving the way to summon high-cost creatures earlier than expected.
Instant Speed: While not an instant itself, Living Wish can fetch creatures with flash, effectively broadening your strategic choices during each phase of the game.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Living Wish obligates you to reveal a card from outside the game, which diminishes the element of surprise and gives your opponent insight into your strategy.
Specific Mana Cost: This card requires a green and one generic mana, making it restricted to decks that include green mana sources.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: The two mana needed may be considered steep for fetching a single card from outside the game, especially when compared to other tutor cards that place the card directly into your hand or onto the battlefield.
Reasons to Include Living Wish in Your Collection
Versatility: Living Wish offers a way to access toolbox cards from outside the game, providing flexibility in response to various in-game scenarios. This capability allows for dynamic deck strategies and can adapt to a range of challenges during play.
Combo Potential: This card opens the door to numerous combo opportunities, offering a direct route to critical pieces that might be missing from your hand or battlefield. It can fetch essential creatures or lands, seamlessly integrating into a larger winning strategy.
Meta-Relevance: In constantly shifting meta environments, having a card like Living Wish can be crucial. It serves as a way to counteract prevalent deck archetypes or tech against common threats, ensuring your deck remains competitive in diverse game climates.
How to beat
Living Wish is a unique card from the MTG universe capable of fetching a creature or land from outside the game. This strategy offers a pool of options, making it challenging to preemptively counter. To beat a strategy involving Living Wish, it’s important to effectively manage your resources and anticipate possible threats.
One method to counteract Living Wish is by utilizing cards that can exile or disrupt the chosen card before it comes into play. Counterspells that target spells on the stack can prevent the asset from ever impacting the board. Additionally, grave hate cards can prove beneficial, as they can remove potential targets from the game, limiting Living Wish’s effectiveness. Playing around Living Wish involves smart hand management and keeping up mana for counterspells, thereby ensuring that when your opponent reveals their hand, you’re ready to neutralize the threat.
Remember, flexibility and adaptability are key in outmaneuvering Living Wish, so stay vigilant and keep your counters at the ready for when the wish is cast. By preparing your own game plan, maintaining control of the board, and anticipating your opponent’s moves, you can navigate around the challenges posed by this versatile card.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Living Wish MTG card by a specific set like Judgment and Magic Online 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 Living Wish and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- 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
Printings
The Living Wish Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2002-05-27 and 2018-03-16. Illustrated by 2 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2002-05-27 | Judgment | JUD | 124 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Eric Peterson | |
| 2 | Magic Online Promos | PRM | 35068 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Hideaki Takamura | ||
| 3 | 2002-08-14 | World Championship Decks 2002 | WC02 | bk124 | 1997 | Normal | Gold | Eric Peterson | |
| 4 | 2008-01-01 | Judge Gift Cards 2008 | G08 | 5 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Hideaki Takamura | |
| 5 | 2018-03-16 | Masters 25 | A25 | 179 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Hideaki Takamura |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Living Wish has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Living Wish card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2004-10-04 | Can’t acquire the Ante cards. They are considered still “in the game” as are cards in the library and the graveyard. |
| 2007-05-01 | If you fail to find something, you still exile this. |
| 2007-05-01 | The choice is optional. |
| 2007-09-16 | Can’t acquire cards that are phased out. |
| 2009-10-01 | In a sanctioned event, a card that’s “outside the game” is one that’s in your sideboard. In an unsanctioned event, you may choose any card from your collection. |
| 2009-10-01 | You can’t acquire exiled cards because those cards are still in one of the game’s zones. |