Pieces of the Puzzle MTG Card
2016-04-08 - Number 78
2023-03-21 - Number 85
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Sorcery |
Key Takeaways
- Card advantage achieved by extracting key spells from the top five cards, essential for planning future moves.
- Instant speed enables reactive capability, ensuring adaptability during critical phases of gameplay.
- Despite its mana specificity and potential cost, it’s a strategic asset in particular deck archetypes.
Text of card
Reveal the top five cards of your library. Put up to two instant and/or sorcery cards from among them into your hand and the rest into your graveyard.
"The clues have begun to reveal a truth I hesitate to accept."
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Delves into your library to reveal the top five cards, providing an opportunity to snatch two instant or sorcery cards, which significantly bolsters your hand and future plays.
Resource Acceleration: This card doesn’t directly generate mana or tokens but accelerates your resource pool by filtering through your deck and ensuring that key spells are readily available for your subsequent turns.
Instant Speed: Being able to cast Pieces of the Puzzle at instant speed gives you the flexibility to respond during your opponent’s turn or after they’ve made a critical play, keeping them guessing about your available resources and potential counters.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Pieces of the Puzzle demands that you send two instant or sorcery cards from your library to your graveyard as part of its effect. This could deplete valuable spells that you might need for later stages of the game, especially if your deck relies heavily on such cards.
Specific Mana Cost: This spell costs one blue and two other mana to cast, making it an exclusive fit for blue-centric or blue-compatible decks. Players running decks that do not support blue mana may find Pieces of the Puzzle unsuitable for their strategies.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: While revealing the top five cards of your library can be advantageous, dedicating three mana for this process can be costly compared to other card advantage options. In competitive play, where mana efficiency is key, some may find the cost of Pieces of the Puzzle too steep for the potential reward.
Reasons to Include Pieces of the Puzzle in Your Collection
Versatility: Pieces of the Puzzle offers a significant advantage by delving into your library to retrieve instants and sorceries. This flexibility allows it to fit seamlessly into various spell-centric decks, enhancing their ability to find key components.
Combo Potential: This card shines in settings where certain instants and sorceries can set off powerful combinations. It acts as a catalyst, ensuring you have the necessary spells in hand to execute game-changing plays effectively.
Meta-Relevance: Given its ability to search and select from multiple cards, Pieces of the Puzzle is particularly valuable in a meta dominated by control or combo decks. Its capacity to sift through the library and bolster your hand makes it a strategic choice for maintaining momentum against various competitive strategies.
How to beat
Pieces of the Puzzle is a notable spell in MTG, particularly within control or combo decks that are looking to stock their graveyard with valuable resources. This card allows players to reveal the top five cards of their library, then choose up to two instant or sorcery cards from among them and add those to their hand, while putting the rest into their graveyard. This fuels strategies relying on spell recursion or graveyard synergies.
To effectively counter Pieces of the Puzzle, you can use graveyard disruption tools, which are key. Cards like Rest in Peace or Relic of Progenitus can help by removing the graveyard as a resource entirely, nullifying the effectiveness of Pieces of the Puzzle. Additionally, discard effects that force the opponent to lose cards before they have a chance to play Pieces of the Puzzle, such as Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek, can preemptively dispose of the threat. It’s also effective to counter this spell directly with counterspells like Negate or Dovin’s Veto, preventing the card from resolving and its subsequent deck-thinning and graveyard-filling benefits. Understanding your opponent’s deck mechanics and strategically timing your disruption are your best weapons against Pieces of the Puzzle.
Considering its strategic importance in the specific decks that utilize it, taking away Pieces of the Puzzle’s ability to leverage the graveyard makes it much less of a puzzle for opponents to solve.
Cards like Pieces of the Puzzle
Pieces of the Puzzle serves as a boutique pick in the arena of card advantage engines in Magic: The Gathering. It bears a resemblance to Strategic Planning, where both cards dig through a portion of the library to select useful spells. Pieces of the Puzzle delves deeper, sifting through the top five cards to retrieve not one, but two instant or sorcery cards, setting it apart with its quantity yield. However, unlike Strategic Planning, which places the selected card into your hand, Pieces of the Puzzle sends the chosen spells to the graveyard, priming them for later recursion tactics.
Glimmer of Genius shares the common goal of filtering through your deck, but opts for a different approach, providing an immediate hand refill with the added benefit of energy counters. This is a key difference as energy counters can fuel a variety of deck strategies. Pieces of the Puzzle, while more restricted, synergizes seamlessly with graveyard-based strategies, making it a valuable asset in specific contexts.
Thus, while examining these cards side by side, Pieces of the Puzzle stands out for decks that capitalize on graveyard synergies, offering a tailored solution for players seeking to sculpt their game plan from their graveyard.
Cards similar to Pieces of the Puzzle by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Pieces of the Puzzle MTG card by a specific set like Shadows over Innistrad and Shadows over Innistrad Remastered, 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 Pieces of the Puzzle and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- 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 Pieces of the Puzzle Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2016-04-08 and 2023-03-21. Illustrated by Magali Villeneuve.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2016-04-08 | Shadows over Innistrad | SOI | 78 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Magali Villeneuve | |
| 2 | 2023-03-21 | Shadows over Innistrad Remastered | SIR | 85 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Magali Villeneuve |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Pieces of the Puzzle has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |