Fasting MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 1 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Enchantment |
| Released | 1994-08-01 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | The Dark |
| Set code | DRK |
| Number | 7 |
| Frame | 1993 |
| Layout | normal |
| Border | black |
| Illustred by | Douglas Shuler |
Key Takeaways
- Offers card advantage by enabling additional card draws, vital for maintaining hand options.
- Demands careful hand management due to discard requirements, influencing strategic decisions.
- Provides competitive edge through life gain and combo potential in specific deck builds.
Text of card
You may choose to skip your draw phase; if you do so, you gain 2 life. If you draw a card for any reason, Fasting is destroyed. During your upkeep, put a hunger counter on Fasting. When Fasting has five hunger counters on it, it is destroyed.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Casting Fasting provides a unique edge through its card-drawing mechanic, which permits drawing extra cards after the first one each turn. This can notably shift the scales in your favor, keeping your hand replenished and providing more options as the game progresses.
Resource Acceleration: Unlike other spells, Fasting offers a subtle form of resource acceleration. By skipping your draw step, you save yourself from potentially having to discard if you go above your hand size limit, thus maintaining your resources efficiently.
Instant Speed: While Fasting itself isn’t an instant, it can complement instant-speed plays. Without the need to commit to drawing, you can allocate mana to react to the board with instants, knowing that Fasting can refill your hand at a more opportune time.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One of the drawbacks of the Fasting MTG card is its discard requirement. To activate its abilities, you must often discard a card, which could backfire if your hand is running low on cards. Managing your hand size becomes crucial when incorporating this card into your strategy.
Specific Mana Cost: Fasting comes with a specific mana cost that necessitates the use of white mana. This can restrict its integration into a deck, as players will need to ensure that they have the right mana base. It may not fit into multicolored decks that are not focused on white mana or decks that prefer mana flexibility.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: The cost of Fasting might be considered high when compared to other options available in the game. For its mana expenditure, players expect a significant impact or advantage, and there are alternative cards that might provide a better return on investment, either through lower mana costs or more powerful effects.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Fasting provides a unique effect, allowing players to skip their draw step for a chance to gain life. This ability can be a tactical asset in decks focused on life gain or those looking to mitigate card draw to avoid decking out.
Combo Potential: This card can be a key piece in combos involving life total as a resource for activation costs or for triggering events based on life gained during a turn.
Meta-Relevance: In a game where life points are as crucial as card advantage, Fasting can play an essential role. Especially in metas dominated by aggressive strategies, the incremental life gain can make all the difference, giving control and combo decks that extra buffer to stabilize and execute their game plan.
How to beat
Fasting is a unique card known for its ability to potentially stall games, providing value through consistent life gain if no cards are drawn. Overcoming Fasting often entails changing the pacing of your game, forcing the Fasting player to either break their pattern or suffer consequences from a more aggressive strategy.
Applying pressure can be an efficient tactic. Try deploying threats early on that warrant an immediate answer, prompting the Fasting player to use their cards, thus breaking the cycle of Fasting’s benefit. Alternatively, adopting a disruptive strategy by incorporating hand-attack elements, such as Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek, can disturb the equilibrium that Fasting aims to uphold, giving you the advantage and potentially thwarting an opponent’s plan.
Lastly, keep in mind that Fasting only shines in a passive game environment. Introduce instant-speed interactions and spells that must be dealt with each turn to keep opponents off balance. By staying proactive and keeping the pressure, you can significantly reduce Fasting’s effectiveness, securing your position to outpace and eventually outmaneuver the reliance on such a card.
Cards like Fasting
Within the rich tapestry of Magic: The Gathering, the Fasting card has always been a unique piece in its gameplay dynamics. Diving into the pool of similar cards, we find an intriguing counterpart in the form of Remorseful Cleric. Like Fasting, the Cleric offers a twist on utility – though it does not directly involve card draw or life gain, it presents graveyard control, which in specific decks and matchups can be as valuable as the effects provided by Fasting.
Further on, we consider the parallels with Tanglebloom, another card which requires a startup input, in this case, mana, to later be tapped for life gain. Both cards, when played, prompt strategic planning for long-term benefits. However, Tanglebloom can be activated multiple times unlike Fasting, which offers a one-time effect but at the potential for greater life gain.
Finally, comparing Fasting with Font of Vigor illuminates their shared theme of delayed gratification in life gain. Both cards invest in future benefits but do so in different ways; Font of Vigor provides more immediate and guaranteed life boost, whereas Fasting, though initially slower, can potentially lead to a significant advantage if timed correctly.
In evaluating Fasting amidst its contemporaries, one can appreciate its nuanced role where it requires foresight and patience, offering a strategic depth that few cards can claim. In certain decks and situations, Fasting could be the hinge on which the game pivots to your favor.
Cards similar to Fasting by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Fasting MTG card by a specific set like The Dark, 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 Fasting 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 Magic products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Fasting has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Oldschool | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Fasting card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2008-10-01 | When you resolve the beginning-of-upkeep triggered ability, you first put a hunger counter on Fasting, then you check how many hunger counters it has. If there are five or more, Fasting is destroyed. |
| 2008-10-01 | You choose whether or not to skip your draw step as that step begins. This ability is now separate from the beginning-of-upkeep triggered ability. |
