Painful Lesson MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery

Key Takeaways

  1. Digs deeper into your deck, potentially uncovering key resources for strategy acceleration.
  2. Despite mana rigidity, the card’s draw efficiency provides strategic depth to black decks.
  3. It offers advantage in multiplayer through its ability to target any player.

Text of card

Target player draws two cards and loses 2 life.

"You wish to remember this lesson? I will write it down for you." —Senifet, vizier of Bontu


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Painful Lesson provides an immediate boon by granting you access to two additional cards, enhancing your ability to keep pressure on your opponent through a sustained number of options in hand.

Resource Acceleration: While Painful Lesson does not directly produce mana or tokens, it propels your strategy forward by letting you dig deeper into your deck to possibly uncover the resources you need to accelerate your board presence.

Instant Speed: Although not an instant itself, this sorcery can be a strategic piece in your game plan, fitting into turns where you’ve preserved mana, allowing you to refuel your hand before your next turn begins, keeping the tempo in your favor.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Painful Lesson pushes you to lose life instead of discarding, which can be a risky trade-off especially when you’re precariously hanging on in the game.

Specific Mana Cost: The combination of one generic and two black mana for Painful Lesson might toughen its integration into multi-colored decks, leaning towards mana flexibility issues.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a similar mana cost, alternatives like Read the Bones allow scry in addition to drawing cards, which might overshadow Painful Lesson’s appealing straight draw.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Painful Lesson is a black sorcery card that can slot into various deck types, offering solid card draw for decks that can afford to lose a bit of life in exchange for drawing cards.

Combo Potential: This card excels in decks that have life gain mechanics or those that use loss of life as a tool, enabling players to draw cards while setting up powerful synergies.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where card advantage is crucial, Painful Lesson provides an efficient trade-off between life points and drawing power, staying relevant in multiple meta schemes.


How to beat

Painful Lesson is a thought-provoking spell that offers players a chance to draw two cards at the cost of two life and three mana, a notable transaction in Magic: The Gathering. This card presents a strategic opportunity but also a vulnerability. To counteract the effects of Painful Lesson, you can employ a few techniques. One effective strategy is utilizing life gain spells to offset the life lost, thus preserving your staying power in the game. Cards like Essence Warden or Kitchen Finks can provide consistent life gains to mitigate the impact of such spells.

Another tactic is to increase the cost of your opponent’s spells using cards like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben or Damping Sphere, which can make it challenging for your opponent to cast Painful Lesson without incurring a significant tempo loss. Lastly, proactive hand disruption through cards like Thoughtseize or Duress can extract Painful Lesson from your opponent’s hand before they even have a chance to cast it, thereby maintaining the balance of card advantage in your favor.

Countering Painful Lesson and similar strategies ensures that you minimize their potential benefit to your opponent while keeping the momentum of your own game plan. By integrating these methods, you can effectively neutralize threats that Painful Lesson poses and pave your way to victory.


BurnMana Recommendations

Understanding the intricacies of MTG is key to leveraging cards like Painful Lesson. This sorcery offers a sharp edge by exchanging life for cards, essential in strategies that hinge on card advantage. Yet, its effectiveness is contingent on your deck’s synergy and the state of the game. Eager to expand your repertoire while considering cards like Painful Lesson? We encourage you to further explore our insights. Uncover potent deck-building strategies, learn how to adapt to evolving metas, and ensure your arsenal is replete with game-changing spells. Dive deeper with us and refine your MTG prowess.


Cards like Painful Lesson

Painful Lesson serves as an intriguing spell in the realm of card draw effects within Magic: The Gathering. It bears resemblance to cards like Sign in Blood – both of which allow you to draw two cards at the cost of two life. Albeit similar in effect, Painful Lesson’s advantage lies in its option to target any player, which Sign in Blood does not offer, opening strategic plays especially in multiplayer settings.

Contrasting this to Read the Bones, another spell in the same vein, we see a subtle difference. Read the Bones also enables you to scry 2 before you draw, providing a slight advantage in card quality over Painful Lesson. Nevertheless, the scrying does come at an increased mana cost. Moreover, Syphon Mind stands out among these due to its potential in multiplayer games. Although costing one more mana than Painful Lesson, it allows you to draw a card for each opponent who discards, making it potentially more profitable in larger games.

Each of these spells offers a distinctive blend of risks and rewards, yet Painful Lesson finds its niche with its flexibility and straightforward nature. It may not manipulate your deck or force opponents to discard, but it maintains solid footing as a fundamental card draw option.

Sign in Blood - MTG Card versions
Read the Bones - MTG Card versions
Syphon Mind - MTG Card versions
Sign in Blood - Magic 2010 (M10)
Read the Bones - Theros (THS)
Syphon Mind - Onslaught (ONS)

Cards similar to Painful Lesson by color, type and mana cost

Darkpact - MTG Card versions
Demonic Attorney - MTG Card versions
Jovial Evil - MTG Card versions
Infernal Contract - MTG Card versions
Touch of Death - MTG Card versions
Wicked Pact - MTG Card versions
Nature's Ruin - MTG Card versions
Buried Alive - MTG Card versions
Choking Sands - MTG Card versions
Brush with Death - MTG Card versions
Perish - MTG Card versions
Coercion - MTG Card versions
Hand of Death - MTG Card versions
Grim Tutor - MTG Card versions
Forced March - MTG Card versions
Stupor - MTG Card versions
Soul Burn - MTG Card versions
Noxious Vapors - MTG Card versions
Mind Rot - MTG Card versions
Crippling Fatigue - MTG Card versions
Darkpact - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Demonic Attorney - Summer Magic / Edgar (SUM)
Jovial Evil - Legends (LEG)
Infernal Contract - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Touch of Death - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Wicked Pact - Portal (POR)
Nature's Ruin - Portal (POR)
Buried Alive - World Championship Decks 2003 (WC03)
Choking Sands - World Championship Decks 1997 (WC97)
Brush with Death - Stronghold (STH)
Perish - The List (PLST)
Coercion - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Hand of Death - Starter 2000 (S00)
Grim Tutor - Core Set 2021 Promos (PM21)
Forced March - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Stupor - Arena League 2000 (PAL00)
Soul Burn - Invasion (INV)
Noxious Vapors - Planeshift (PLS)
Mind Rot - Kaladesh Remastered (KLR)
Crippling Fatigue - Hachette UK (PHUK)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Painful Lesson MTG card by a specific set like Amonkhet and Battlebond, 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 Painful Lesson and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Painful Lesson Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2017-04-28 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Adrian Majkrzak.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12017-04-28AmonkhetAKH 1022015normalblackAdrian Majkrzak
22018-06-08BattlebondBBD 1542015normalblackAdrian Majkrzak
32019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 7272015normalblackAdrian Majkrzak
42020-09-26The ListPLST AKH-1022015normalblackAdrian Majkrzak
52020-09-26The ListPLST BBD-1542015normalblackAdrian Majkrzak

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Painful Lesson has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

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