Turn Aside MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityCommon
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. Boosts card advantage by making opponents’ spells ineffective; essential for creature protection.
  2. Low cost and instant speed allow for flexible play and uninterrupted resource acceleration.
  3. Leverage Turn Aside to safeguard crucial cards, enhancing combo potential and meta relevance.

Text of card

Counter target spell that targets a permanent you control.

"It's not my job to ask our leaders about their experiments at the Knowledge Pool. It's my job to make sure they can continue performing them."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Turn Aside may not directly draw you additional cards, but it certainly contributes to card advantage by negating the value of an opponent’s spells. Protecting your key creatures or other permanents with Turn Aside effectively nullifies the resources your opponent invested into their removed spell.

Resource Acceleration: While Turn Aside doesn’t ramp you in the traditional sense, its low casting cost means it doesn’t detract from your ability to deploy other spells. For a mere single blue mana, you can prevent a potentially devastating play from your opponent, ensuring you maintain the pace of resource deployment effectively.

Instant Speed: The strength of Turn Aside is significantly amplified by its instant speed. This characteristic gives you the flexibility to respond to threats on your opponent’s turn. Whether it’s interrupting a combo or stopping a board-clearing spell, you can turn the tide of the game while keeping your mana open for optimal playmaking decisions.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Turn Aside doesn’t ask you to discard, having it in your hand means one less card to utilize for other strategies or threats, a tacit discard in high-pressure scenarios.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring a single blue mana means it fits primarily in decks where blue mana is readily accessible, potentially limiting its inclusion in multi-colored decks not focused on blue.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although costing only one blue mana might seem economical, in a game where every mana point counts, allocating resources to prevent a single noncreature spell may not be as cost-effective compared to more versatile counterspells.


Reasons to Include Turn Aside in Your Collection

Versatility: Turn Aside epitomizes flexibility in a spell’s form. It serves as a shield, protecting your most valuable creatures and planeswalkers from targeted spells that your opponent might throw your way.

Combo Potential: This card has intrinsic synergy with strategies that capitalize on protecting key combo pieces. Ensuring your critical spell resolves or an essential creature stays on the board can often be the difference between winning and losing.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where single-target removal or critical spells dictate the pace of gameplay, Turn Aside’s capability to thwart such attempts offers players an edge. It’s a cost-effective way to safeguard your strategy without sacrificing tempo.


How to beat Turn Aside

Turn Aside is an essential tool for blue players in Magic: The Gathering who want to protect their key spells and valuable creatures on the battlefield. This efficient instant can be a real game-changer, thwarting opponent’s attempts to disrupt your strategy. But like all spells, it’s not without its weaknesses.

One way to outmaneuver Turn Aside is by using spells that cannot be countered. If your deck includes cards like Supreme Verdict or Cavern of Souls, you can bypass Turn Aside altogether. Red players can also outflank this pesky spell with targeted discard effects or by playing spells during the combat phase, where Turn Aside’s targeting limitations make it virtually useless.

Remember that Turn Aside only targets spells that target a single permanent or player. Thus, board wipes or spells with multiple targets remain unaffected. So, to keep your game plan intact, think ahead and diversify your strategy with such spells to put pressure on players with Turn Aside in their arsenal.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering MTG means adapting to the ever-changing landscape of play. Turn Aside is a handy tool for those who revel in keeping their key pieces secure from targeted threats. Its instant speed and low cost cater to players keen on maintaining tempo while preserving resources. When constructing your deck, consider the environments where targeted spells dominate. Turn Aside could be your ace in the hole, ensuring your main strategies remain intact. Curious about how to weave this spell into your game plan? Visit us for insights and strategies to harness the full potential of Turn Aside in your MTG battles.


Cards like Turn Aside

Turn Aside is an intriguing spell in the Magic: The Gathering world of counter magic. It echoes the abilities of cards like Negate, providing targeted protection against noncreature spells. However, Turn Aside distinguishes itself with its singular focus on spells that target a single creature or player. Negate offers a broader spectrum of denial, countering many types of noncreature spells indiscriminately.

In terms of mana efficiency, you have Dispel, which is another one-mana counter but is limited to instant spells. Turn Aside, while niche, can counter any targeting spell – whether it’s an enchantment, artifact, or potentially game-winning sorcery. Then we delve into the realm of cards like Mizzium Skin, which offers target creatures hexproof in addition to countering targeting spells, but at a different angle and at sorcery speed.

Having taken into account the specific roles and contexts these cards are placed in, Turn Aside presents itself as a specialized tool. It shines in decks looking for cheap, efficient ways to protect key creatures or players from targeted threats, making it a valuable inclusion in the precise situation it’s meant for.

Negate - MTG Card versions
Dispel - MTG Card versions
Mizzium Skin - MTG Card versions
Negate - Morningtide (MOR)
Dispel - Worldwake (WWK)
Mizzium Skin - Return to Ravnica (RTR)

Cards similar to Turn Aside by color, type and mana cost

Ancestral Recall - MTG Card versions
Jump - MTG Card versions
Sleight of Mind - MTG Card versions
Twiddle - MTG Card versions
Unsummon - MTG Card versions
Siren's Call - MTG Card versions
Power Sink - MTG Card versions
Blue Elemental Blast - MTG Card versions
Spell Blast - MTG Card versions
Magical Hack - MTG Card versions
Riptide - MTG Card versions
Winter's Chill - MTG Card versions
Mind Bend - MTG Card versions
Denied! - MTG Card versions
Hydroblast - MTG Card versions
Whispers of the Muse - MTG Card versions
Ertai's Trickery - MTG Card versions
Force Spike - MTG Card versions
Opt - MTG Card versions
Envelop - MTG Card versions
Ancestral Recall - Vintage Championship (OVNT)
Jump - Magic 2010 (M10)
Sleight of Mind - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Twiddle - Introductory Two-Player Set (ITP)
Unsummon - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Siren's Call - Collectors' Edition (CED)
Power Sink - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Blue Elemental Blast - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Spell Blast - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Magical Hack - Intl. Collectors' Edition (CEI)
Riptide - The Dark (DRK)
Winter's Chill - Ice Age (ICE)
Mind Bend - Tenth Edition (10E)
Denied! - Unglued (UGL)
Hydroblast - World Championship Decks 1998 (WC98)
Whispers of the Muse - World Championship Decks 1998 (WC98)
Ertai's Trickery - Planeshift (PLS)
Force Spike - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Opt - Jumpstart 2022 (J22)
Envelop - Judgment (JUD)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Turn Aside MTG card by a specific set like Scars of Mirrodin and Eldritch Moon, 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 Turn Aside and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Turn Aside Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2010-10-01 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12010-10-01Scars of MirrodinSOM 492003normalblackShelly Wan
22016-07-22Eldritch MoonEMN 782015normalblackJaime Jones
32019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 5352015normalblackJaime Jones
42020-09-26The ListPLST EMN-782015normalblackJaime Jones

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Turn Aside has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PioneerLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2016-07-13 Turn Aside can target a spell that has multiple targets, as long as at least one of those targets is a permanent you control.

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