Distortion Strike MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery
Abilities Rebound

Key Takeaways

  1. With Distortion Strike, creatures become unblockable for two consecutive turns, enhancing offensive potential.
  2. It is limited to blue mana decks, which may reduce its utility in diverse mana color strategies.
  3. Distortion Strike’s prowess for repeated effects offers immense value in combat-centric MTG decks.

Text of card

Target creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn and is unblockable this turn. Rebound (If you cast this spell from your hand, exile it as it resolves. At the beginning of your next upkeep, you may cast this card from exile without paying its mana cost.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Distortion Strike presents an opportunity for repeated effects, thanks to its rebound ability. This means you can apply its effect twice over consecutive turns, effectively giving you two spells for the cost of one and potentially outpacing your opponent in terms of available resources.

Resource Acceleration: While Distortion Strike itself does not directly generate mana or accelerate resources, its low casting cost can be seen as a form of resource efficiency, allowing you to allocate more mana towards other spells or board development within the same turn.

Instant Speed: Although Distortion Strike is a sorcery, its rebound feature offers strategic flexibility akin to instant speed spells. Knowing it will return to the battlefield the following turn, you can plan your moves with foresight, essentially dictating the pace of the game as if you had an instant tucked away for future use.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While not a direct drawback of Distortion Strike itself, this card’s effectiveness can hinge on having key creatures in play. If your hand is low on creatures or you’re facing removal-heavy decks, the potential of Distortion Strike is significantly reduced.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring blue mana, Distortion Strike is inherently limited to decks that can produce that color. This restriction affects deck diversity and can be a hindrance in multicolored decks that are mana-hungry or have a less stable mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For some aggressive decks, the need to wait until turn two to cast Distortion Strike may not be ideal. Some players might opt for alternative one-mana spells that can be played earlier to boost their creatures, thus allowing for more immediate impact on the game.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Distortion Strike offers unique flexibility, as it can be slotted into a wide variety of blue-based decks, particularly those that emphasize elusive combat tactics or need to guarantee a hit to enable certain abilities or triggers.

Combo Potential: This card’s ability to make a creature unblockable for multiple turns synergizes with strategies that capitalize on direct creature attacks, ranging from infect decks that seek to deliver poison counters to voltron strategies focused on powering up a single creature.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment where blockers are plentiful and combat strategies are key, Distortion Strike helps to push through critical damage or enable hit-triggered effects that could turn the tide of the game in your favor.


How to Beating Distortion Strike

Distortion Strike is a unique aura spell in Magic: The Gathering that can turn the tide of battle by making a creature unblockable and giving it a bump in power. Overcoming an opponent’s Distortion Strike hinges on crafting a clever strategy. This spell is known for its rebound ability, which allows a second use after the initial cast. Therefore, one must prepare for not one, but two potential attacks.

Counterspells are the most direct way to negate Distortion Strike, stopping it before it can affect the battlefield. Spot removals or board wipes can be effective as well, removing the enchanted creature from play regardless of its unblockable status. Additionally, utilizing effects that strip a creature of its abilities can leave your opponent’s Distortion Strike without a target. Enchantment removal spells can also dismantle this strategy by directly removing Distortion Strike from play.

Ultimately, to triumph over the Distortion Strike strategy, players should focus on maintaining card advantage and resource flexibility. Having a variety of answers ready in your deck will allow you to adapt to the situation and counter this spell tactically, ensuring that your opponent’s creatures never strike from the distortion unimpeded.


BurnMana Recommendations

Distortion Strike offers a unique blend of unblockability and power augmentation for MTG enthusiasts looking to pave a clear path to victory. Leveraging its rebound ability is key in extending its effects over multiple turns, disrupting your opponent’s defense strategy. Although it shines in decks that capitalize on direct attacks, it’s vital to consider your deck’s creature composition and mana flexibility when opting to include Distortion Strike. Looking to further enhance your strategic play and build an unstoppable deck? Visit us for in-depth insights and tips on mastering card synergies that will turn each duel into a showcase of your tactical prowess.


Cards like Distortion Strike

Distortion Strike is a unique card offering unblockable prowess to MTG players striving to bypass enemy lines. One can draw a parallel to Slip Through Space, which similarly provides a creature with the ability to become unblockable for a turn. While Slip Through Space grants immediate card draw, Distortion Strike delays the benefit with its rebound ability, allowing for a repeated effect in the subsequent turn without additional mana investment.

Comparable spells also span to Artful Dodge, which, like Distortion Strike, features flashback, giving a creature unblockable status twice over separate turns. The distinction here is the mana cost; Artful Dodge is cheaper to cast initially but requires a mana payment for its flashback, unlike the automatic rebound granted by Distortion Strike.

While evaluating these options alongside Distortion Strike, the advantage of an assured second round of unblockable status paints Distortion Strike as a strategic asset in decks that swing for sustained, inevitable damage over multiple turns.

Slip Through Space - MTG Card versions
Artful Dodge - MTG Card versions
Slip Through Space - Oath of the Gatewatch (OGW)
Artful Dodge - Dark Ascension (DKA)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Distortion Strike MTG card by a specific set like Rise of the Eldrazi and Iconic Masters, 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 Distortion Strike and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Distortion Strike Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2010-04-23 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Goran Josic.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12010-04-23Rise of the EldraziROE 602003normalblackGoran Josic
22017-11-17Iconic MastersIMA 522015normalblackGoran Josic
32019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 3522015normalblackGoran Josic
42020-09-26The ListPLST IMA-522015normalblackGoran Josic

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Distortion Strike has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2010-06-15 At the beginning of your upkeep, all delayed triggered abilities created by rebound effects trigger. You may handle them in any order. If you want to cast a card this way, you do so as part of the resolution of its delayed triggered ability. Timing restrictions based on the card’s type (if it’s a sorcery) are ignored. Other restrictions are not (such as the one from Rule of Law).
2010-06-15 Distortion Strike doesn’t grant an ability to the targeted creature. Rather, it affects the game rules and states something that’s now true about that creature. The creature can’t be blocked even if it loses all abilities.
2010-06-15 If a replacement effect would cause a spell with rebound that you cast from your hand to be put somewhere else instead of your graveyard (such as Leyline of the Void might), you choose whether to apply the rebound effect or the other effect as the spell resolves.
2010-06-15 If a spell with rebound that you cast from your hand doesn’t resolve for any reason (due being countered by a spell like Cancel, or because all of its targets are illegal), rebound has no effect. The spell is simply put into your graveyard. You won’t get to cast it again next turn.
2010-06-15 If you are unable to cast a card from exile this way, or you choose not to, nothing happens when the delayed triggered ability resolves. The card remains exiled for the rest of the game, and you won’t get another chance to cast the card. The same is true if the ability is countered (due to Stifle, perhaps).
2010-06-15 If you cast a card from exile this way, it will go to your graveyard when it resolves, fails to resolve, or is countered. It won’t go back to exile.
2010-06-15 If you cast a spell with rebound from anywhere other than your hand (such as from your graveyard due to Sins of the Past, from your library due to cascade, or from your opponent’s hand due to Sen Triplets), rebound won’t have any effect. If you do cast it from your hand, rebound will work regardless of whether you paid its mana cost (for example, if you cast it from your hand due to Maelstrom Archangel).
2010-06-15 If you cast a spell with rebound from your hand and it resolves, it isn’t put into your graveyard. Rather, it’s exiled directly from the stack. Effects that care about cards being put into your graveyard won’t do anything.
2010-06-15 Rebound will have no effect on copies of spells because you don’t cast them from your hand.

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