Whispering Madness MTG Card

Offers card advantage by refilling your hand and forcing opponents to discard theirs. Cipher ability enables repeated use, potentially accelerating your game plan. Demands strategic deck building with specific mana cost and high investment.

Gatecrash (GTC)
2013-02-01 - Number 207

Whispering Madness - Commander 2016 (C16)

Commander 2016 (C16)
2016-11-11 - Number 229

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Rare
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Cipher

Text of card

Each player discards his or her hand, then draws cards equal to the greatest number of cards a player discarded this way. Cipher (Then you may exile this spell card encoded on a creature you control. Whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player, its controller may cast a copy of the encoded card without paying its mana cost.)

Cards like Whispering Madness

Whispering Madness brings a unique twist to the wheel effect category in Magic: The Gathering. This card echoes the powerful impact of notorious wheel effects like Windfall, where players discard their hand and draw cards equal to the greatest number discarded by a player. However, Whispering Madness offers an extra layer of strategy with its cipher ability—once encoded on a creature, you can potentially repeat the effect whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player.

In comparison, Dragon Mage reimagines the wheel effect by embedding it into a creature. Whenever Dragon Mage deals combat damage to a player, each player discards their hand and draws seven cards. Unlike Whispering Madness, the effect is recurring but tied to a creature’s combat damage which can be harder to guarantee. Time Spiral, another card with a similar effect, resets hands and untaps lands but is also a game-changer due to its zero cost after untapping six lands.

Analyzing these cards, Whispering Madness offers versatility with its cipher ability, placing it among the diverse and dynamic spell options players can choose from for repeatable hand disruption and refill in Magic: The Gathering.

Cards similar to Whispering Madness by color, type and mana cost

Call of the Nightwing - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Whispering Madness offers a unique twist on card draw. When you cast it, each player discards their hand and draws cards equal to the greatest number of cards a player discarded this way. This can dramatically refill your hand, often leading to a significant advantage over opponents.

Resource Acceleration: For those utilizing its cipher ability, Whispering Madness can be encoded onto a creature, which allows for repeated uses. Connecting with a ciphered creature means continually forcing discards and redraws, potentially accelerating your resources by depriving opponents and giving you fresh cards multiple times.

Instant Speed: While not an instant itself, Whispering Madness can be played at a quasi-instant speed by cleverly encoding it on a creature with evasion. This setup allows you to swing for damage and cast the encoded spell mid-combat, simulating the surprise factor of an instant and disrupting your opponent at a crucial moment.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One potential drawback of Whispering Madness is its discard effect, compelling each player to discard their hand and draw cards equal to the greatest number discarded. While this can be disruptive to your opponents, it may also force you to discard valuable resources, which is not always beneficial if you can’t capitalize on the new hand size.

Specific Mana Cost: The mana cost of Whispering Madness includes both blue and black mana, which necessitates a deck tailored around at least these two colors. This can restrict the card’s flexibility and potentially exclude it from mono-colored or other multi-colored decks not aligned with these colors.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost of two colorless, one blue, and one black, Whispering Madness is a card that requires a significant investment in the early to mid-game. This cost can delay other important plays, and considering the availability of lower cost cards that provide hand disruption or card draw, Whispering Madness may not be the most mana-efficient choice in some situations.

Reasons to Include Whispering Madness in Your Collection

Versatility: Whispering Madness offers a unique blend of disruption and card refilling that can slide easily into numerous deck archetypes, particularly those leveraging discard strategies or desiring a new hand of resources.

Combo Potential: With its Cipher ability that allows it to be encoded onto a creature, this spell can be repeatedly used when the creature deals combat damage, creating synergies with creatures that have unblockable or evasive abilities.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where players accumulate large hand sizes, Whispering Madness can serve as an equalizer, often catching opponents off-guard and disrupting carefully crafted game plans while simultaneously refueling your own options.

How to beat

Whispering Madness is a potent card notorious to MTG players for its capability to disrupt the flow of the game. This card forces each player to discard their hand and draw cards equal to the greatest number discarded by a player this turn, potentially refilling your opponent’s resources or leaving you vulnerable. To effectively counter this strategy, it’s essential to maintain a low hand size, reducing the benefit your opponent receives. It also helps to rely on instant-speed spells or abilities allowing you to react during your opponent’s turn or to safeguard key cards against mass discard effects.

Utilizing graveyard strategies can also turn the tide, as discarding to Whispering Madness might just fuel your game plan rather than disrupt it. Cards that thrive on a stocked graveyard, like delve mechanics or reanimation spells, can benefit from your discarded cards. Including counterspells in your deck ensures that you can negate Whispering Madness before its effect is realized, maintaining hand control. Lastly, permanents such as Leovold, Emissary of Trest or Notion Thief can turn Whispering Madness against the caster, effectively becoming a tool in your own arsenal rather than a threat.

Understanding the dynamics of card advantage and strategic hand management will help you mitigate the impact of Whispering Madness and maintain dominance over the game state.

BurnMana Recommendations

Perfecting your MTG strategy involves deep understanding and clever manipulation of the game’s mechanics. Whispering Madness is a card that promises both disruption and opportunity, reshaping the battlefield’s dynamic with every cast. Whether you are reinforcing your existing tactics or seeking new synergies, this card’s potential to turn the tides cannot be ignored. We recommend incorporating it into decks that thrive on chaos and advantage. To harness its full power and unravel even more strategic layers within MTG, connect with us. Learn how Whispering Madness can become the linchpin in your deck-building adventures and secure your victories.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Whispering Madness MTG card by a specific set like Gatecrash and Commander 2016, 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 Whispering Madness and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Whispering Madness Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2013-02-01 and 2016-11-11. Illustrated by Clint Cearley.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2013-02-01	Gatecrash	GTC		207	2003	Normal	Black	Clint Cearley
2	2016-11-11	Commander 2016	C16		229	2015	Normal	Black	Clint Cearley

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Whispering Madness has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Whispering Madness card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2013-01-24	Each player draws cards simultaneously. If this causes a player to draw more cards than are left in their library, that player will lose the game. If this causes all players to do so, the game is a draw. (In multiplayer games, multiple players drawing from an empty library will cause those players to lose although the game may continue.)
2013-01-24	You’ll draw cards before deciding which creature (if any) Whispering Madness will be encoded on.
2013-04-15	If a creature with an encoded card deals combat damage to more than one player simultaneously (perhaps because some of the combat damage was redirected), the triggered ability will trigger once for each player it deals combat damage to. Each ability will create a copy of the exiled card and allow you to cast it.
2013-04-15	If another player gains control of the creature, that player will control the triggered ability. That player will create a copy of the encoded card and may cast it.
2013-04-15	If the creature leaves the battlefield, the exiled card will no longer be encoded on any creature. It will stay exiled.
2013-04-15	If the spell with cipher doesn’t resolve, none of its effects will happen, including cipher. The card will go to its owner’s graveyard and won’t be encoded on a creature.
2013-04-15	If you choose not to cast the copy, or you can’t cast it (perhaps because there are no legal targets available), the copy will cease to exist the next time state-based actions are performed. You won’t get a chance to cast the copy at a later time.
2013-04-15	If you want to encode the card with cipher onto a noncreature permanent such as a Keyrune that can turn into a creature, that permanent has to be a creature before the spell with cipher starts resolving. You can choose only a creature to encode the card onto.
2013-04-15	The copy of the card with cipher is created in and cast from exile.
2013-04-15	The exiled card with cipher grants a triggered ability to the creature it’s encoded on. If that creature loses that ability and subsequently deals combat damage to a player, the triggered ability won’t trigger. However, the exiled card will continue to be encoded on that creature.
2013-04-15	The spell with cipher is encoded on the creature as part of that spell’s resolution, just after the spell’s other effects. That card goes directly from the stack to exile. It never goes to the graveyard.
2013-04-15	You cast the copy of the card with cipher during the resolution of the triggered ability. Ignore timing restrictions based on the card’s type.
2013-04-15	You choose the creature as the spell resolves. The cipher ability doesn’t target that creature, although the spell with cipher may target that creature (or a different creature) because of its other abilities.