Gaze of Justice MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 1 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Sorcery |
| Abilities | Flashback |
| Released | 2006-10-06 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Time Spiral |
| Set code | TSP |
| Number | 20 |
| Frame | 2003 |
| Layout | normal |
| Border | black |
| Illustred by | John Avon |
Key Takeaways
- Gaze of Justice offers board control by exiling multiple threats, creating a potential card advantage.
- Its specific mana cost limits its use to white mana decks, affecting its format flexibility.
- The card is meta-relevant and can handle resilient creatures that conventional removal can’t.
Text of card
As an additional cost to play Gaze of Justice, tap three untapped white creatures you control. Remove target creature from the game. Flashback (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost and any additional costs. Then remove it from the game.)
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Gaze of Justice offers a strategic benefit in a game by potentially removing multiple threats from the battlefield. This can disrupt an opponent’s strategy and create a significant shift in the board state, often leading to card advantage.
Resource Acceleration: While not directly providing resource acceleration, the card’s flashback ability allows for repeated use without expending additional cards from your hand, effectively granting resource conservation and sustained pressure on your opponent.
Instant Speed: As a sorcery, Gaze of Justice cannot be cast at instant speed; however, its ability to exile a tapped creature provides a preemptive control option, allowing you to plan and execute your strategy during your own turn without the immediate pressure of an untapped opponent’s board.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Gaze of Justice pulls a demanding requirement from its caster – the need to exile three white creatures you control to activate its flashback ability. This steep price can deplete your board presence and may not be viable in situations where your creature count is critical.
Specific Mana Cost: This card requires white mana not only for its casting cost but also for its flashback cost. This specificity narrows the card’s flexibility, restricting it to decks that can consistently provide white mana, and thus potentially limiting its playability across various MTG formats.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: The initial casting cost of Gaze of Justice may seem low, but it’s the flashback cost that can be burdensome. Despite its powerful effect, reactivating it from the graveyard comes at the steep cost of four white mana, which can be quite taxing in the mid to late game where mana availability can determine the pace and control of the match.
Reasons to Include Gaze of Justice in Your Collection
Versatility: Gaze of Justice is a powerful removal option for white decks focusing on control or tempo. Its ability to exile rather than destroy makes it a solid choice against indestructible threats.
Combo Potential: This card thrives in decks with plentiful creature tokens, allowing you to tap them for the flashback cost without losing valuable board presence. The tap-three-creatures requirement can synergize with other cards that benefit from tapped creatures.
Meta-Relevance: In metas dominated by creature-based strategies, Gaze of Justice serves as an effective tool. It can handle problematic creatures that other forms of removal might not touch, securing its relevance in various matchups.
How to beat
Gaze of Justice stands out as a tactical removal spell in the landscape of Magic: The Gathering. Notably, it allows a player to tap three white creatures to exile a target creature, assuming they can’t pay the flashback cost. But every card has its counters, and in this case, versatility in creature management is key. Cards like Brave the Elements can provide protection by granting your creatures temporary immunity from white spells, ensuring Gaze of Justice fizzles out.
Another strategy involves leveraging hexproof or shroud abilities, which inherently protect your creatures from being targeted by such removals. Swiftfoot Boots or Asceticism could serve as perfect equipment and enchantment representatives for this protection. Prioritizing these protections can make it exceedingly difficult for an opponent to utilize Gaze of Justice effectively on your board. Additionally, utilizing instant speed spells to remove your own creatures in response, or to give them indestructible for the turn with cards like Dauntless Bodyguard, can nullify the exile effect entirely.
In the dynamic battlefield of Magic: The Gathering, understanding and anticipating your opponent’s removal options, like Gaze of Justice, and preparing your deck to mitigate these strategies can be the difference between victory and defeat.
Cards like Gaze of Justice
Gaze of Justice stands out in the landscape of removal spells in Magic: The Gathering. It shares the fundamental purpose of eliminating threats, akin to cards like Swords to Plowshares, which instantly exiles a creature at an exceptionally low cost. Nevertheless, Gaze of Justice presents a distinct mechanic that requires tapping three untapped white creatures you control, adding a strategic layer to its use.
Another comparator, Path to Exile, also exiles creatures but differs in granting opponents a basic land card onto the battlefield, potentially advancing their mana base. Meanwhile, Gaze of Justice has a flashback ability, allowing a second use from the graveyard at the expense of additional mana and creatures, a feature absent in Path to Exile. Oust is a low-cost spell that places a creature into its owner’s library rather than exile. While it does not remove the threat permanently like Gaze of Justice, it delays your opponent’s plans and gains you time.
Considering these nuances, Gaze of Justice offers a versatile solution in player arsenals, balancing its initial restrictive conditions with a potential for later game impact through the flashback mechanic.
Cards similar to Gaze of Justice by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Gaze of Justice MTG card by a specific set like Time Spiral, 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 Gaze of Justice 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 Gaze of Justice 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 Gaze of Justice card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2006-09-25 | The additional cost must be paid if Gaze of Justice is cast with flashback. |
| 2021-03-19 | A spell cast using flashback will always be exiled afterward, whether it resolves, is countered, or leaves the stack in some other way. |
| 2021-03-19 | If a card with flashback is put into your graveyard during your turn, you can cast it if it’s legal to do so before any other player can take any actions. |
| 2021-03-19 | To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost (such as a flashback cost) you’re paying, add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions. The mana value of the spell is determined only by its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast the spell was. |
| 2021-03-19 | You can cast a spell using flashback even if it was somehow put into your graveyard without having been cast. |
| 2021-03-19 | You must still follow any timing restrictions and permissions, including those based on the card’s type. For instance, you can cast a sorcery using flashback only when you could normally cast a sorcery. |
| 2021-03-19 | “Flashback -ost]” means “You may cast this card from your graveyard by paying -ost] rather than paying its mana cost” and “If the flashback cost was paid, exile this card instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack.” |
