Lose Hope MTG Card

Fifth Dawn (5DN)
2004-06-04 - Number 52

The List (PLST)
2020-09-26 - Number 5DN-52

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	1
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant
Abilities	Scry

Key Takeaways

Lose Hope disrupts strategies at instant speed, making it a versatile and tactical play.
Requires discarding and black mana, which may limit its utility in diverse decks.
Situational efficiency may overshadow its higher mana cost compared to alternatives.

Text of card

Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn. Scry 2 (Look at the top two cards of your library. Put any number of them on the bottom of your library and the rest on top in any order.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Lose Hope provides you with a significant edge by potentially nullifying an opponent’s creature’s abilities. This can disrupt their strategies and leave you in a more commanding position on the board.

Resource Acceleration: Although Lose Hope itself doesn’t directly accelerate resources, its cost-effectiveness means you’re able to deploy other resources or spells alongside it. This economical use of mana enables you to maximize your plays each turn.

Instant Speed: The agility that instant speed spells offer cannot be overstated. Lose Hope can be cast in response to an opponent’s actions, offering tactical adaptability during their turn. This can lead to pivotal plays that alter the course of a game in your favor.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Lose Hope necessitates discarding a card, potentially depleting hand advantage during critical gameplay moments. This trade-off can be particularly taxing when your hand is already running low on options, leaving you in a precarious position against opponents with fuller grips.

Specific Mana Cost: Lose Hope calls for black mana exclusively which might not align seamlessly with multicolored or color-flexible decks. Players need to consider their mana base carefully to ensure they can consistently meet this requirement without disrupting their deck’s overall mana curve and strategy.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its mana cost being higher than some alternative spells offering similar effects, Lose Hope might not always be the card of choice. Savvy players often weigh the cost against the benefit and in a game where efficiency can be king, there could be more economical ways to achieve the same or better outcomes.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Lose Hope provides utility in various deck archetypes that look to disrupt opponent strategies. Its low mana cost enables early game play, allowing players to protect their board state or prevent the opponent’s key spells from resolving.

Combo Potential: This spell’s ability to add a -1/-1 counter can be synergistically combined with other cards that benefit from counters being placed on creatures, enhancing combo interactions and board control tactics.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta dominated by creature-focused decks, Lose Hope can be a critical tool for dealing with early threats. Its instant speed gives flexibility, helping you maintain tempo while shaping the battlefield to your advantage.

How to Beat Lose Hope

Lose Hope presents a unique challenge in the realm of MTG, but overcoming it requires strategic play. This particular spell can stall your momentum by weakening your creature at a critical moment for a minimal mana investment. Knowing this, one effective strategy is to diversify your threats on the battlefield. By having a wide array of creatures, you minimize the impact of Lose Hope. It is essential to deploy a combination of creatures with varying abilities, as some might have inherent protection from being targeted or others that may simply be less critical to your strategy if they are weakened.

Additionally, countering Lose Hope directly, when possible, can shift the game in your favor. Holding a well-timed counterspell or an ability to grant your creatures hexproof can invalidate your opponent’s attempts to disrupt your board. Furthermore, cards that bolster your creatures post-targeting can also serve as a counterbalance, rendering the effect of Lose Hope moot and ensuring your creatures maintain their presence as formidable forces within the game.

Ultimately, while Lose Hope may appear as a straightforward card to manage, preparedness and adaptability are key. Crafting a deck with resilience against such targeted interference will enhance your chances of maintaining control over the match and advancing towards victory.

Cards like Lose Hope

Lose Hope is part of Magic the Gathering’s array of targeted creature spells that can diminish an opponent’s threats. It’s reminiscent of cards like Disfigure, which also decreases a creature’s power and toughness. However, Lose Hope offers a subtle twist with its ability to scry, providing valuable deck manipulation alongside its weakening effect on creatures.

Comparable in function is Dead Weight, another spell that can hinder creatures by giving them a persistent negative status. Though Dead Weight is an enchantment with longer-term effects, Lose Hope’s instant cast nature allows quick reactions during combat or in response to enemy spells. Grasp of Darkness is yet another similar card with an even more potent effect, decreasing power and toughness by a greater margin, but it comes at the cost of more mana and being less mana efficient.

In examining the qualities of these spells, Lose Hope holds a unique place within MTG’s selection of debuffing spells. Its strength lies in the combination of immediate creature weakening and the scry ability, which can critically shape the course of a game by setting up future draws.

Cards similar to Lose Hope by color, type and mana cost

March of Wretched Sorrow - MTG Card versions

Foulmire Knight // Profane Insight - MTG Card versions

Aesthetic Consultation - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Lose Hope MTG card by a specific set like Fifth Dawn and The List, 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 Lose Hope and other MTG cards: