Dash Hopes MTG Card

Planar Chaos (PLC)
2007-02-02 - Number 68

The List (PLST)
2020-09-26 - Number PLC-68

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant

Key Takeaways

Dash Hopes can create card advantage by putting opponents in lose-lose situations, affecting their strategy and resources.
The card’s instant speed allows for flexible play, enhancing control over the game’s pace and opponent’s actions.
Although Dash Hopes is restricted by color and mana cost, it shines in specific aggressive or control strategies.

Text of card

When you play Dash Hopes, any player may pay 5 life. If a player does, counter Dash Hopes. Counter target spell.

"Focus an enemy's mind on what's already gone, and it's easier to take away more." —Holux, stronghold racketeer

Card Pros

Card Advantage: While Dash Hopes may seem counterintuitive for card advantage, its dual-threat nature can result in indirect advantage. It often forces your opponent to make difficult decisions, potentially setting them back by losing a key spell or precious life points.

Resource Acceleration: Dash Hopes shines in a strategy aiming to outpace the opponent. By pressuring life totals early, it accelerates towards your game plan which often revolves around depleting the opponent’s resources, such as their life total, as swiftly as possible.

Instant Speed: Dash Hopes can disrupt your opponent’s plays in real-time due to its instant speed. This flexibility allows you to wait until the most opportune moment to decide whether to counter a spell or let the opponent pay the life, keeping them off balance and reacting to your pace of play.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Dash Hopes compels the controller of the countered spell to choose between losing life or allowing the counter, potentially causing no card advantage for the caster.

Specific Mana Cost: With its black mana requirement, Dash Hopes is restricted to certain deck types, limiting its versatility compared to more flexible counterspells.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For a counter-effect, requiring two black mana is steep, especially when other counter spells offer the same or better utility at lower or more flexible costs.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Dash Hopes offers the unique ability to counter any spell, while also offering the potential for direct damage, making it adaptable to black control or aggressive decks seeking flexibility in their responses to opponents’ plays.

Combo Potential: As a black counterspell with a twist, it can surprise opponents in combo decks that typically wouldn’t expect disruption from a mono-black build, leading to unexpected and advantageous interactions.

Meta-Relevance: In a format where opponents often stabilize at low life totals, the choice Dash Hopes forces on an opponent can be particularly punishing and can leverage the pacing of a game in your favor, especially against decks that heavily rely on casting pivotal spells.

How to beat Dash Hopes

In Magic: The Gathering, Dash Hopes presents a unique challenge. As a black counterspell with a twist, it offers your opponent a choice: pay 5 life or let their spell be countered. To effectively navigate this dilemma, you need to evaluate the game state and your resources.

Undoubtedly, timing is vital when considering how to beat Dash Hopes. Utilize spells that are less critical or bait spells when your opponent’s life total is high, making the life payment less attractive. As their life dwindles, they’ll be forced to make tougher decisions that could turn the tide in your favor.

Additionally, incorporating cards that manipulate life totals can diminish the impact of Dash Hopes. If you’re able to gain life or have effects that deal damage to the opponent, the five life payment becomes more significant, potentially deterring your opponent from opting to pay the life cost. Thus, while Dash Hopes can pose a peculiar conundrum, with strategic play and life total management, overcoming it becomes a feasible task.

Cards like Dash Hopes

Exploring the landscape of player choice and counterplay in MTG, Dash Hopes offers a unique twist on the traditional counter spell. Comparable to the likes of Mana Leak and Spell Pierce, Dash Hopes deviates with a significant difference: while the latter are straightforward in their mana-based denial, Dash Hopes provides the target of the spell the option to pay a life toll instead, potentially allowing the spell to resolve if the life payment is made. Unlike Mana Leak, which becomes less effective as the game progresses and players amass more resources, Dash Hopes keeps opponents on their toes, assessing the worth of their spell against the immediate impact on their life total.

Moving to another comparable card, Withering Boon adds to the discussion, offering black mages a rare chance to counter creature spells specifically. Similar to Dash Hopes, Withering Boon features a life payment, but unlike our theme card, it doesn’t present an option to the opponent, acting instead as a definitive counter contingent on the caster’s life payment. This speaks to a core variance between providing a choice and ensuring an outcome, a strategic consideration for deck builders pondering their control suite.

Ultimately, Dash Hopes stands out among counter spells in MTG, carving its niche in offering a mix of psychological play and life as a resource, a fascinating if unorthodox tool in the control player’s arsenal.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Dash Hopes MTG card by a specific set like Planar Chaos and The List, 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 Dash Hopes and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Dash Hopes Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2007-02-02 and 2007-02-02. Illustrated by 3 different artists.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2007-02-02	Planar Chaos	PLC		68	2003	Normal	Black	Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai
2	~~2020-09-26~~	The List	PLST		PLC-68	2003	Normal	Black	Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Dash Hopes has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2007-02-01	As the triggered ability resolves, the active player gets the option to perform the action. If that player declines, the next player in turn order gets the option. As soon as any player performs the action, the spell is countered, but the remaining players still get the option. If all players decline, the spell remains on the stack.
2007-02-01	When this spell is cast, its “when you cast” ability triggers and goes on the stack on top of it.
2013-07-01	A player can’t choose to pay 5 life unless they actually have 5 or more life to pay.