Unfulfilled Desires MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Rare
Type	Enchantment
Released	1996-10-08
Set symbol
Set name	Mirage
Set code	MIR
Number	285
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	D. Alexander Gregory

Key Takeaways

It provides constant card draw for a minimal life and mana investment, enhancing hand replenishment.
The card’s instant speed activation offers strategic flexibility against opponents’ plays.
Drawback includes specific mana demands and potential hand depletion if not managed well.

Text of card

o1, Pay 1 life: Draw a card, then choose and discard a card.

"Like Day from Night, / I'll live my life apart from you, just glimpsing you across the sky, / because you cannot change, my dear, and nor can I." —"Love Song of Night and Day"

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Unfulfilled Desires offers a repeatable card drawing mechanism, allowing you to pay a life and one mana to draw a card at will. This can keep your hand replenished and offer a strategic edge during longer matches.

Resource Acceleration: While it doesn’t directly produce mana or tokens, this card can help filter through your deck to find the resources you need more consistently, ensuring that you’re able to play your strategy without delays.

Instant Speed: Its ability can be activated at instant speed, which gives you the flexibility to respond to your opponent’s actions or end-of-turn, optimizing your mana usage and keeping your options open.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Tasking players to ditch a card as an added cost, Unfulfilled Desires could potentially thin out your hand too quickly, making you vulnerable in the long run.

Specific Mana Cost: Demanding one blue and one black mana makes this card a tricky inclusion, possibly clashing with the mana base in multicolored decks not focused on these colors.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Requiring three mana to play and an additional one to activate might slow down your tempo, especially when other cards provide quicker or cheaper alternatives to filter through your deck.

Reasons to Include Unfulfilled Desires in Your Collection

Versatility: Unfulfilled Desires offers a flexible draw engine that slots into multiple deck archetypes. It’s particularly effective in strategies that require consistent card filtering to ensure the right mix of resources and answers is at hand.

Combo Potential: This card allows for synergy with deck themes that capitalize on life loss and card draw mechanics. It has the potential to be a key piece in combos that utilize card draw for powerful effects or as a trigger for life-based mechanics.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta that values card selection and finesse, Unfulfilled Desires can provide the edge by offering repeated card draw. Its low mana cost and immediate impact make it relevant, especially in formats where long-term planning and card quality are paramount.

How to beat Unfulfilled Desires

Unfulfilled Desires is a unique enchantment that allows players to pay life and mana to draw cards, setting it apart within the realm of card draw engines in the game. Its capability to provide card selection at instant speed makes it a versatile tool in the hands of a skilled player. However, overcoming this card requires a strategic approach.

One effective method to counteract the advantage Unfulfilled Desires provides is by employing enchantment removal spells, which are prevalent across various colors. Cards such as Disenchant or Naturalize offer straightforward solutions to dismantle the enchantment, abruptly halting the opponent’s draw mechanism. Alternatively, pressuring your opponent’s life total can heighten the risk associated with their life payments, forcing them into a precarious position where drawing extra cards becomes a liability rather than an advantage.

It is also beneficial to assess the pacing of your gameplay; by maintaining a swift and aggressive strategy, you can capitalize on the time your opponent spends setting up and utilizing Unfulfilled Desires. In essence, the key to outmaneuvering Unfulfilled Desires lies in disrupting its presence on the battlefield and exploiting the life payments required for its activation.

Cards like Unfulfilled Desires

Unfulfilled Desires is an intriguing enchantment from MTG that offers players a unique draw mechanism at the cost of life points. It shares similarities with cards like Phyrexian Arena, which also grants the ability to draw an additional card at the penalty of losing life. While Unfulfilled Desires allows the action to be taken at instant speed, giving more flexibility, Phyrexian Arena’s effect is slower as it only occurs at the beginning of your upkeep.

Then there’s Sign in Blood, another comparable option that draws cards while decreasing your life total. Unlike Unfulfilled Desires, which provides ongoing access to drawing with each use, Sign in Blood is a once-off effect, offering two cards for one lump sum of life and mana. Greed is an additional comparison point, acting as an enchantment with a similar life-for-cards exchange, though it consumes more mana for each card drawn compared to Unfulfilled Desires.

Assessing these cards side by side, Unfulfilled Desires stands out for its on-demand draw capability, making it a versatile choice for players willing to strategically manage their life total for a potential advantage in card availability.

Cards similar to Unfulfilled Desires by color, type and mana cost

Disinformation Campaign - MTG Card versions

King Narfi's Betrayal - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Unfulfilled Desires MTG card by a specific set like Mirage, 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 Unfulfilled Desires and other MTG cards: