Drill Bit MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Spectacle
Released	2019-01-25
Set symbol
Set name	Ravnica Allegiance
Set code	RNA
Number	73
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Sidharth Chaturvedi

Key Takeaways

Drill Bit gives players crucial knowledge and control by allowing them to force an opponent to discard.
Spectacle cost for efficient mana use can lead to more dynamic play and resource management.
Integrates with various strategies, enhancing its value in both casual and competitive decks.

Text of card

Spectacle (You may cast this spell for its spectacle cost rather than its mana cost if an opponent lost life this turn.) Target player reveals their hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card.

Never boring.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Drill Bit offers a strategic edge by letting you peek into your opponent’s hand and pick a nonland card to discard, effectively reducing their options and increasing your information advantage for future plays.

Resource Acceleration: With its spectacle cost, Drill Bit can be played for a single mana if an opponent has lost life this turn, potentially freeing up resources for additional spells or threats to be deployed the same turn, accelerating your game plan.

Instant Speed: While Drill Bit operates at sorcery speed, its cheap spectacle cost counters this by fitting seamlessly into your curve, allowing for efficient turn planning and leaving mana available for other instant speed interactions within the same round.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Drill Bit card necessitates discarding a card to activate its ability, representing a potential setback when your hand is already depleted.

Specific Mana Cost: This card’s mana cost demands black mana, restricting its integration to decks that can produce or accommodate this color.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Though not the steepest, the mana requirement for Drill Bit is substantial enough that it competes with alternative disruption or removal spells that might be more cost-effective or versatile in a deck’s strategy.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Drill Bit offers broad utility across multiple deck archetypes by allowing you to selectively disrupt your opponent’s hand. It excels in decks focusing on player interaction and can adapt to various gameplay situations.

Combo Potential: When combined with cards that capitalize on an opponent’s reduced hand size or benefit from the knowledge of their hand contents, Drill Bit can become a lynchpin in potent combos that lock down the competition.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment where key spells and threats define the pace of play, Drill Bit’s role is crucial. It efficiently removes integral pieces from the opponent’s strategy, making it especially relevant in tournament and competitive scenes where predicting and dismantling opposing game plans is paramount.

How to beat

Drill Bit is recognized for its ability to shake up the Magic: The Gathering playing field. It’s a unique spell that allows a player to take a peek into an opponent’s hand and selectively discard a nonland card. Similar in effect to Thoughtseize, which offers a similar look at the opponent’s hand but without the spectacle cost reduction.

To successfully navigate against Drill Bit, consider holding onto cards with duplicate effects to reduce the impact of being forced to discard. Holding back on playing your most pivotal spells until the opportunity for your opponent to cast Drill Bit has passed can also be an effective strategy. Furthermore, incorporating instant-speed spells that can be played in response to Drill Bit can help maintain your hand advantage.

Ultimately, understanding your opponent’s potential to play Drill Bit and adjusting your strategy accordingly is vital. You must focus on resource management, knowing when to commit to the board, and predicting the timing of their disruption to diminish the impact Drill Bit could have on your game plan.

Cards like Drill Bit

Drill Bit is an intriguing spell in the Magic: The Gathering realm, sharing similarities with other disruptive cards that target the opponent’s hand. Notably, it mirrors Thoughtseize, a staple in hand-disruption tactics. Both cards allow you to look at your opponent’s hand and pick a nonland card to discard. Nonetheless, Drill Bit stands out because of its spectacle cost, which reduces its mana cost if an opponent was dealt damage this turn, offering strategic mana efficiency.

Similarly, Duress also disrupts by revealing an opponent’s hand, with the difference being its restriction to noncreature, nonland cards and its stable low mana cost without conditional triggers. Distress is another analog, yet it requires additional mana for the freedom to target any nonland card. While these alternatives provide different strategic subtleties and costs, Drill Bit offers a unique blend of flexibility and potential cost reduction that can be pivotal in the early-to-mid game.

Accordingly, in comparing these spells, Drill Bit finds its niche within the pantheon of disruptive cards in Magic: The Gathering. Its potential for a low-cost play coupled with the ability to impact the opponent’s strategy early on makes it a compelling choice for players incorporating hand disruption into their decks.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Drill Bit MTG card by a specific set like Ravnica Allegiance, 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 Drill Bit and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Drill Bit has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Commander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2019-01-25	A card’s spectacle cost is the same no matter how much life your opponents lost or how many opponents lost life.
2019-01-25	Damage dealt to a player causes that player to lose that much life.
2019-01-25	In a multiplayer game, if an opponent loses life and later that turn leaves the game, you can cast a spell for its spectacle cost. (If a player leaves the game during their turn, that turn continues without an active player.)
2019-01-25	Spectacle doesn’t change when you can cast the card. For example, you can’t cast a sorcery with spectacle during an opponent’s turn unless another effect allows you to do so, even if that player has lost life this turn.
2019-01-25	To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you’re paying (such as a spectacle cost), add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions. The converted mana cost of the spell remains unchanged, no matter what the total cost to cast it was.