Tug of War MTG Card
Text of card
Players play a subgame starting at 5 life and with up to three permanent cards with different names from their main-game library on the battlefield. As the subgame ends, the winner chooses one of the cards they put onto the battlefield as the subgame began and puts it onto the battlefield rather than shuffling it into their library.
Cards like Tug of War
Tug of War finds its niche in Magic: The Gathering’s diverse pool of red spells that manipulate combat dynamics. Its closest relatives include cards like Aggravated Assault, which also offers multiple combat phases. However, Aggravated Assault grants these extra phases unconditionally as opposed to Tug of War’s coin flipping mechanism that adds an element of chance to the game flow. This makes Tug of War a card that can potentially alter the course of a match with a flip of a coin, introducing an unpredictable twist.
Then there’s Relentless Assault, another spell that ensures an additional combat phase. Tug of War differentiates itself with the potential to trigger multiple extra combat phases if the coin flips are in your favor, surpassing what Relentless Assault can offer in a single turn. However, Relentless Assault provides a guaranteed outcome, making it a reliable option for those who prefer consistency over chance.
When considering these comparisons, Tug of War stands out for its unique ability to escalate the tension on the battlefield with the exciting probability component it introduces. While not as consistent as some of its counterparts, it promises a dramatic impact on the game when luck is on the player’s side.
Cards similar to Tug of War by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Tug of War excels at providing you with a steady flow of options, as it enables you to continually fill your hand with valuable cards that can alter the course of the game in your favor.
Resource Acceleration: The ingenuity of Tug of War lies in its potential to ramp up your resources, giving you the upper hand by accelerating your mana access and opening up your gameplay to more potent spells sooner than your opponent can handle.
Instant Speed: The key to Tug of War’s versatility is in its ability to be played at instant speed, offering the strategic flexibility to react to your opponent’s moves and making it a formidable surprise during the heat of battle.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Tug of War necessitates discarding a card to activate its ability, a setback when your hand is already depleted or when every card in hand is crucial to your strategy.
Specific Mana Cost: Requiring both red and green mana, Tug of War can be less flexible for decks that don’t run both colors, potentially restricting its inclusion only to specific archetypes.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value that leans on the higher side for its effect, Tug of War might not be the most mana-efficient option available—important to consider when building a deck with a tight mana curve.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Tug of War shines in a multitude of decks that hinge on spell casting or need to manipulate the stack. Its ability to force plays or disrupt opponent strategies makes it an adaptable addition to control or combo decks.
Combo Potential: This card pairs well with effects that trigger whenever a player wins or loses life, or when spells are cast. The life swings and strategic depth offered lay the groundwork for powerful combo finishes.
Meta-Relevance: With an ever-shifting competitive landscape, Tug of War maintains its significance by providing an option to balance the scales against aggressive opponents or to strategically carve a path to victory against more controlling archetypes.
How to beat
Understanding the intricacies of tackling Tug of War in Magic: The Gathering can give players a significant edge. Tug of War is a notable card that presents a unique challenge during gameplay. Its ability to potentially swing the tide of a match hinges on the decisions players make in critical moments. To effectively counter this card, it is crucial to adopt a strategy that can minimize its impact or exploit its mechanics to your advantage.
To dismantle the potential advantages it confers, one might consider employing instant-speed removal spells to quickly deal with any threats that get out of hand. Alternatively, integrating cards that can take advantage of the forced discard may also turn the tables in your favor. Cards like Narset, Parter of Veils, restrict opponents from benefiting from any additional card draw, thus potentially neutralizing the advantage Tug of War offers. Evasive maneuvers, such as countering the card during casting with a Dispel or Negate, can also nullify its effects and retain control over the board. Being proactive and maintaining a robust defense against this kind of strategy will likely lead to outlasting your opponent’s tug on the match’s momentum.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Tug of War MTG card by a specific set like Unfinity and Unfinity, 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 Tug of War and other MTG cards:
BUY NOW BurnMana is an official partner of TCGPlayer
- eBay
- 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 MTG Products
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Tug of War card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2022-10-07 | After subgame mulligans are complete, the starting player puts the cards they set aside onto the battlefield. Each other player in turn order does the same. |
| 2022-10-07 | After the subgame ends, each player shuffles their cards from the subgame to re-form their main-game library (and Attraction deck, if applicable), and they return to the main game from the point they left off, with Tug of War finishing resolving and the winner of the subgame getting their reward. No counters, stickers, or other effects from the subgame move back into the main game. |
| 2022-10-07 | As players are shuffling their main-game libraries to form their subgame libraries, they should set aside the cards they wish to have on the subgame battlefield as the subgame begins. |
| 2022-10-07 | If a player has fewer than seven cards in their main-game library, they’ll lose the subgame as it begins, regardless of how many mulligans that player takes. |
| 2022-10-07 | If any abilities trigger during this process, they’ll be put on the stack the next time a player gets priority, usually during the subgame’s first upkeep. |
| 2022-10-07 | If the subgame is a draw, no player won the subgame, so nobody gets to put a permanent onto the battlefield in the main game. |
| 2022-10-07 | In a Commander game, if a commander is in the command zone, its owner puts it into the command zone of the subgame and removes all stickers from it. After the subgame, each player may put any commanders they own in the subgame into the command zone of the main game. If a commander was in the command zone of the subgame, it automatically moves to the command zone of the main game. |
| 2022-10-07 | In a Constructed format, each player selects a new set of sticker sheets at the start of the subgame from among all sticker sheets they have (including the ones in the main game) the same way they do at the start of a normal game of Magic. This doesn’t impact the sticker sheets they are allowed to use in the main game. |
| 2022-10-07 | In a Limited format, each player selects three sticker sheets at the start of the subgame from among all sticker sheets they opened (including the ones in the main game) the same way they would at the start of a normal game of Magic. This doesn’t have any effect on which sticker sheets they are allowed to use in the main game. |
| 2022-10-07 | The card that the subgame winner puts onto the main-game battlefield doesn’t have to come from the subgame battlefield. It could have died, been shuffled into a library, or anything else during the subgame. |
| 2022-10-07 | To play a subgame, all players start a new game using their libraries as their decks. Any supplementary decks a player has (for example, an Attraction deck) also get shuffled and brought into the subgame. No other cards, tokens, emblems, or anything else from the main game are included in the subgame unless otherwise specified here or in the effect that created that subgame. |