Unexplained Absence MTG Card
2024-02-09 - Number 328
2024-02-09 - Number 17
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Instant |
| Abilities | Cloak |
Text of card
For each player, exile up to one target nonland permanent that player controls. For each permanent exiled this way, its controller cloaks the top card of their library.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Unexplained Absence provides a strategic advantage by temporarily removing an opponent’s creature. This disrupts their board presence and can effectively postpone threats, preserving your card economy while possibly setting them back.
Resource Acceleration: While Unexplained Absence does not directly generate resources, the ability to delay an opponent’s game plan can indirectly accelerate yours by giving you more time to develop your board and mana base without pressure from the targeted creature.
Instant Speed: The flexibility of Unexplained Absence’s instant speed is a key asset, enabling you to adapt to the flow of the game. You can efficiently manage your mana and choose the optimal moment to cast it, such as during your opponent’s combat phase or at the end of their turn, keeping your options open and reactive to their plays.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Unexplained Absence doesn’t force a discard when played, which gives it an edge in maintaining card advantage. However, it can still be a drawback for those who utilize strategies revolving around a full hand.
Specific Mana Cost: Unexplained Absence’s mana cost, while not steep, does require one blue mana. This necessity can restrict its inclusion only in decks that can produce blue mana, potentially excluding it from various mono-colored or colorless strategies.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Compared to other removal spells in its class, Unexplained Absence’s mana cost might be seen as high for its temporary effect. The player might find other spells that provide a more permanent solution for the same, or even a lower amount of mana.
Reasons to Include Unexplained Absence in Your Collection
Versatility: Unexplained Absence serves as a flexible option in decks that require a means of temporary creature removal. It is an instant, allowing players to swiftly respond to threats at a crucial moment, which can be a game-changer in both limited and constructed formats.
Combo Potential: It facilitates synergies in decks focusing on ‘bounce’ mechanics, where returning a creature to an opponent’s hand can be tactically advantageous. This card opens up interactions with cards that have enter the battlefield triggers or spells that benefit from casting a certain number of instants and sorceries.
Meta-Relevance: With a shifting meta that often features aggressive creature-based decks, Unexplained Absence can be a cost-effective tool for controlling the board. In the face of formidable creatures and complex board states, the ability to return a nonland permanent to its owner’s hand – while also surveilling – helps maintain card quality and keeps one step ahead of the opponent.
How to beat
Unexplained Absence stands out in the realm of instant spells that deal with creatures, providing a temporary solution by returning the target to its owner’s hand. This card allows players to disrupt their opponent’s board, especially when they’re about to face creatures with potent abilities or those buffed with auras and equipment.
While it may not permanently remove the threat, similar to spells like Murder or Doom Blade, Unexplained Absence offers flexibility. This can be pivotal in buying time or saving your own creatures from removal, setting you up for a more advantageous position. It’s also worth noting that when its surveil ability is activated, it further aids in deck manipulation, allowing a peek into your future draws.
Understanding that it only provides a delay means that to truly overcome Unexplained Absence, a player should prioritize permanent solutions or strategies that make the card less effective. Counterspells, for example, can stop it before it takes effect, while playing cards that benefit from being returned to the hand or that have enter-the-battlefield effects can turn this disruption into an advantage for you. In essence, acknowledging its strengths and limitations is key to beating Unexplained Absence in the game.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Unexplained Absence MTG card by a specific set like Murders at Karlov Manor Commander and Murders at Karlov Manor Commander, 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 Unexplained Absence and other MTG cards:
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Printings
The Unexplained Absence Magic the Gathering card was released in 1 different sets between 2024-02-09 and 2024-02-09. Illustrated by Rockey Chen.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2024-02-09 | Murders at Karlov Manor Commander | MKC | 328 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Rockey Chen | |
| 2 | 2024-02-09 | Murders at Karlov Manor Commander | MKC | 17 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Rockey Chen |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Unexplained Absence has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Unexplained Absence card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2024-02-02 | A permanent that turns face up or face down changes characteristics but is otherwise the same permanent. Spells and abilities that were targeting that permanent and Auras and Equipment that were attached to that permanent aren’t affected unless the new characteristics of the object change the legality of those targets or attachments. |
| 2024-02-02 | Any time you have priority, you can turn a cloaked permanent you control face-up by revealing that it’s a creature card (ignoring any copy effects or type-changing effects that might be applying to it) and paying its mana cost. This is a special action. It doesn’t use the stack and can’t be responded to. |
| 2024-02-02 | At any time, you can look at a face-down spell or permanent you control. You can’t look at face-down permanents or spells you don’t control unless an effect instructs or allows you to do so. |
| 2024-02-02 | Because face-down creatures don’t have a name, they can’t have the same name as any other creature, even another face-down creature. |
| 2024-02-02 | Because the permanent is on the battlefield both before and after it’s turned face up, turning a permanent face up doesn’t cause any enters-the-battlefield abilities to trigger. |
| 2024-02-02 | If a cloaked creature would have disguise (or morph) if it were face up, you may also turn it face up by paying its disguise (or morph) cost. |
| 2024-02-02 | If a double-faced card is cloaked, it will be put onto the battlefield face down. While face down, it can’t transform. If the front face of the card is a creature card, you can turn it face up by paying its mana cost. If you do, its front face will be up. |
| 2024-02-02 | If a face-down creature loses its abilities, it can’t be turned face up with a disguise ability because it will no longer have a disguise ability (or a disguise cost) once face up. |
| 2024-02-02 | If a face-down spell leaves the stack and goes to any zone other than the battlefield (if it was countered, for example), you must reveal it. Similarly, if a face-down permanent leaves the battlefield, you must reveal it. You must also reveal all face-down spells and permanents you control if you leave the game or the game ends. |
| 2024-02-02 | If something tries to turn a face-down instant or sorcery card on the battlefield face up, reveal that card to show all players it’s an instant or sorcery card. The permanent remains on the battlefield face down. Abilities that trigger when a permanent turns face up won’t trigger, because even though you revealed the card, it never turned face up. |
| 2024-02-02 | To cloak a card, put it onto the battlefield face down. It becomes a 2/2 face-down creature card with ward and no name, mana cost, or creature types. It’s colorless and has a mana value of 0. Other effects that apply to the permanent can still grant it any characteristics it doesn’t have or change the characteristics it does have. |
| 2024-02-02 | Turning a permanent face up or face down doesn’t change whether that permanent is tapped or untapped. |
| 2024-02-02 | Unlike a face-down creature that was cast using a disguise or morph ability, a cloaked creature may still be turned face up after it loses its abilities if it’s a creature card. |
| 2024-02-02 | You must ensure that your face-down spells and permanents can be easily differentiated from each other. You’re not allowed to mix up the cards that represent them on the battlefield to confuse other players. The order in which they entered the battlefield should remain clear, as well as what ability caused them to be face down. (This includes disguise, cloak, and in games involving older cards, morph and manifest, as well as a few other effects that turn cards face down.) Common methods for doing this include using markers or dice, or simply placing them in order on the battlefield. |