Portent MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 8 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery

Key Takeaways

  1. Portent provides nuanced control, reshuffling libraries and setting up pivotal draws for strategic advantage.
  2. While restrictive in mana requirements, Portent’s ability to target any player is a unique tactical tool.
  3. The card’s comparative late draw effect demands foresight, shaping both deck construction and in-game decisions.

Text of card

Look at the top three cards of target player's library; then, either shuffle that library or put those three cards on top of the library in any order. Draw a card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Portent, a classic card from the Ice Age set, serves as an excellent tool for card advantage. By allowing players to peek into the future, it enables them to rearrange the top three cards of any player’s library. This can lead to better draw quality, significantly boosting your game plan while potentially disrupting your opponent’s. Moreover, it’s a precursor for a guaranteed draw during the next upkeep, ensuring a consistent flow of resources.

Resource Acceleration: Although Portent itself doesn’t provide direct resource acceleration like artifact mana or ramp spells, its ability to sort the top cards of a library accelerates your access to the resources you need. By effectively filtering your next draws, Portent ensures that you are more likely to draw into the lands or mana sources that are crucial for your strategy, thus indirectly contributing to your overall resource acceleration.

Instant Speed: One of the subtle strengths of Portent is its instant speed functionality. Despite the fact that it must be cast only during your turn, the ability to delay the card draw until the next upkeep means you retain some of the flexibility that instant speed spells offer. This unique timing allows you to be more strategic about when to reshuffle the library, how to disrupt your opponent, and which cards you are setting up to draw, all without having to commit resources immediately and keeping your options open.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Portent requires you to plan a turn in advance due to its delayed draw effect, meaning you must allocate your resources carefully, potentially discarding valuable cards later.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost for Portent demands blue mana, making it an exclusive option for decks that run Island or have access to mana fixing to accommodate blue spells.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Though Portent itself is low-cost, the opportunity cost of playing it over immediate card draw or other disruption can be high, especially in fast-paced games where tempo is crucial.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Portent offers a unique flexibility in gameplay, allowing players to not only peek into the future of their own deck but also manipulate their opponent’s draws. This dual ability makes it a solid addition to control and combo decks alike, tailoring your strategy with foresight and precision.

Combo Potential: This card can lay the groundwork for powerful play sequences, enabling synergies with cards that care about draw manipulation or setting up the perfect draw for a winning combination. Its potential to sequence your upcoming turns or disrupt an opponent’s strategy makes it a clever tactical piece.

Meta-Relevance: Given its capacity to subtly alter the course of a game, Portent holds significance in game environments with a focus on strategy and control. The power to arrange the top cards of any library is an advantage that can tip the scales in matchups where the right card at the right time is crucial.


How to beat

Portent is a unique card in the world of Magic: The Gathering that offers players foresight by rearranging the top cards of any player’s library and eventually drawing a card—a subtle yet potentially game-altering capability. This can lead to favorable outcomes for the caster while disrupting an opponent’s strategy. Overcoming this subtle manipulation requires strategic depth and resourcefulness.

To effectively counter Portent, players should utilize deck shuffling effects after Portent’s rearrangement, thus negating its setup. Cards such as fetch lands or effects like Ponder can reorganize your deck, minimizing the advantage gained by your opponent. Moreover, Instant speed card-draw spells can disrupt the predicted top-deck, providing an element of surprise and turning the tide back in your favor. A resilient mindset and well-timed actions are critical when dealing with the predictive control of Portent.

Remember, anticipation and adaptability are your best allies in this confrontation. By remaining vigilant and employing your own set of strategic cards, you can dull the Portent’s impact and keep the match on equal footing. In the chess-like battlefield of MTG, every move and countermove adds depth to the intricate dance of victory and defeat.


BurnMana Recommendations

Grasping the nuances of Portent can significantly enhance your MTG gameplay. With this card’s ability to spy on the future hands of any player, it’s a strategic gem for deck manipulation. Whether you’re in the mood to bolster your own plays or unravel your opponent’s plans, understanding Portent’s applications is key. It’s a tactician’s delight and could prove to be an unsung hero in your matches. Curious about integrating Portent into your winning strategy, or keen to dive deeper into library manipulation techniques? BurnMana is your go-to destination. Discover more insights and tactics with us and enrich your MTG experience.


Cards like Portent

Portent bears a resemblance to other card manipulation spells within Magic: The Gathering. It shares common ground with cards like Ponder, allowing players to look at the top cards of their libraries. While both give the option to shuffle if the card arrangement is unsatisfactory, Portent has the unique feature of targeting any player’s library. This can offer a strategic advantage in multiplayer games, not just offering insight but also potentially disrupting an opponent’s next draw.

Serum Visions is another comparable card, offering the player both a card draw and a peek at the future with scry. However, Portent allows for greater manipulation by rearranging up to three cards instead of two. It’s also key to note that Portent’s draw effect happens during the next upkeep, providing a delay not found in Serum Visions’ immediate draw. Lastly, there is Preordain, which offers similar deck manipulation, but doesn’t allow targeting an opponent’s deck or the same level of disruption as Portent.

In essence, while there are a number of spells that provide a similar peek at the future, Portent’s ability to target any player’s deck and offer both insight and interplay creates a unique position for it amongst MTG cards dedicated to library manipulation.

Ponder - Lorwyn (LRW)
Serum Visions - Arena League 2004 (PAL04)
Preordain - Magic 2011 (M11)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Portent MTG card by a specific set like Ice Age and Fifth Edition, 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 Portent and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Portent Magic the Gathering card was released in 8 different sets between 1995-06-03 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11995-06-03Ice AgeICE 901993normalblackLiz Danforth
21997-03-24Fifth Edition5ED 1101997normalwhiteLiz Danforth
32002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 882322015normalblackChristopher Burdett
42006-07-21Coldsnap Theme DecksCST 902003normalblackLiz Danforth
52008-09-22Masters Edition IIME2 601997normalblackLiz Danforth
62018-08-09Commander 2018C18 972015normalblackChristopher Burdett
72019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 4582015normalblackChristopher Burdett
82020-09-26The ListPLST C18-972015normalblackChristopher Burdett

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Portent has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2004-10-04 This does not cause a player to lose if they have less than 3 cards in their library. It allows you to look at and reorder or shuffle whatever remaining cards there might be.

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks