Academic Dispute MTG Card

Academic Dispute - Strixhaven: School of Mages

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	1
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Instant
Abilities	Learn
Released	2021-04-23
Set symbol
Set name	Strixhaven: School of Mages
Set code	STX
Number	91
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Manuel Castañón

Key Takeaways

Academic Dispute offers card advantage and can fetch Lessons, enhancing card economy and adaptability.
Its instant speed allows for strategic combat disruption, but requires a careful hand balance.
Its specificity in deck placement and cost could limit use, though its versatility justifies inclusion.

Text of card

Target creature blocks this turn if able. You may have it gain reach until end of turn. Learn. (You may reveal a Lesson card you own from outside the game and put it into your hand, or discard a card to draw a card.)

"I'll show you original research, you hack!"

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Academic Dispute lets you draw a card, ensuring that you come out ahead in the card economy. With its Learn mechanic, it can effectively replace itself with a Lesson from outside the game, providing you with the exact tool you need at the moment.

Resource Acceleration: While this spell doesn’t directly produce mana or Treasure tokens, the ability to Learn allows you to potentially fetch a Lesson that could ramp or fix your mana, indirectly aiding in resource acceleration.

Instant Speed: Academic Dispute’s instant speed gives you flexibility to disrupt an opponent’s combat phase or end-of-turn decisions. This lets you wait until the most impactful moment to play the card, while keeping your options open.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Academic Dispute asks you to pitch a card from your hand, potentially depriving you of key pieces in your game plan, especially when your hand is running low.

Specific Mana Cost: Locked behind red mana, this card can be restrictive for players not running a red or multicolored mana base, thus not fitting easily into every deck archetype.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Requiring two mana might seem low, but in a fast-paced game, this can be a critical investment for an effect that doesn’t immediately alter the board state, especially when compared to instant-speed options with lower costs or broader impacts.

Reasons to Include Academic Dispute in Your Collection

Versatility: Academic Dispute is a flexible tool that you can incorporate into various strategies. It can be a low-cost way to force an opponent’s creature to block—or not—altering the battlefield dynamics to your advantage.

Combo Potential: This card allows you to not only manipulate combat but also draw a card if you control a Learn card. This can synergize with strategies that capitalize on card advantage or casting multiple spells in a single turn.

Meta-Relevance: With the importance of creature-based combat in many competitive formats, Academic Dispute holds a place in sideboards and main decks alike to disrupt opponent plans and maintain card flow in your favor.

How to beat

When facing Academic Dispute in MTG, it’s wise to remember that this card can disrupt your strategy by forcing one of your creatures to block. Its Learn ability allows the player to either gain a Lesson card or discard a card to draw a new one; thus, it’s crucial to be prepared for both the forced block and the potential card advantage it provides your opponent.

One effective tactic is keeping instant-speed removal or bounce spells handy, so you can remove your creature from combat or return it to your hand in response. This way, you prevent the unwanted block and nullify the disruption. Another strategy is minimizing the number of creatures on your battlefield that you cannot afford to lose, especially when your opponent has mana available to cast Academic Dispute. Lastly, include countermeasures for the Learn mechanic itself, such as graveyard hate cards, to limit the benefits your opponent receives from their Lessons, keeping the game firmly in your favor.

By anticipating and preparing for the card’s effects, you can maintain control over your creatures and your game plan, effectively overcoming the challenge that Academic Dispute presents in a match.

Cards like Academic Dispute

Academic Dispute steps into the MTG arena as a peculiar blend of flexibility and targeted disruption. In the realm of red instant spells that manipulate combat, it draws parallels with other notable cards. For instance, Deflecting Palm and Gideon’s Reproach both offer the ability to turn an opponent’s attack against them, though they function without providing the choice to draw a card.

Looking at cards with a “lure” effect, Forced Landing and Roar of Challenge can compel a creature to block, but lack Academic Dispute’s versatility and the secondary option to cycle the card from your hand when an opponent’s creature isn’t present or blocking isn’t on the table. Additionally, neither substitutes the valuable card draw. In contrast, Kazuul’s Fury presents an alternative as it can be a land or an instant, granting immense tactical advantage, but failing to offer the draw.

The tight balance between influencing attacks or defenses and the possibility of card replacement positions Academic Dispute uniquely within its category. Indeed, for those players looking to maintain tempo and options, this card proves its merit as an affordable and crafty addition to any deck.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Academic Dispute MTG card by a specific set like Strixhaven: School of Mages, 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 Academic Dispute and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Academic Dispute 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 Academic Dispute card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2021-04-16	If a card is brought into the game from outside the game, it will stay in the game until it ends or until its owner leaves the game, whichever comes first.
2021-04-16	If instructed to learn, you may do nothing. Discarding a card and putting a Lesson card into your hand are both optional.
2021-04-16	If you bring a card into the game from outside the game in a Constructed tournament (or a Constructed game played under tournament conditions), you may select only a card from your sideboard. In casual Constructed games, the card comes from your collection.
2021-04-16	If you bring a card into the game from outside the game in a Sealed Deck or Booster Draft event, you may select only a card that is in the card pool that you built your deck from.
2021-04-16	The controller of the creature chooses which attacking creature that creature blocks.
2021-04-16	The creature blocks only if it's able to do so as the declare blockers step begins. If, at that time, the creature is tapped, it's affected by a spell or ability that says it can't block, or no creatures are attacking its controller or a planeswalker controlled by that player, then it doesn't block. If there's a cost associated with having the creature block, the player isn't forced to pay that cost. If that cost isn't paid, the creature won't block.
2021-04-16	You choose whether you want the creature to gain reach until end of turn as Academic Dispute resolves.