Tentative Connection MTG Card

Tentative Connection - Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Common
Type	Sorcery
Released	2020-04-24
Set symbol
Set name	Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths
Set code	IKO
Number	138
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Kieran Yanner

Key Takeaways

Tentative Connection can disrupt strategies by taking opponents’ creatures, impacting the game significantly.
Its cost can be reduced with a full party, leading to potentially efficient mana usage and plays.
While powerful, its sorcery speed and cost require careful deck integration and timing.

Text of card

This spell costs less to cast if you control a creature with menace. Gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn.

Lukka was ordered to kill a threat. He chose to make a friend.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Tentative Connection lets you gain control of an opponent’s creature, potentially disrupting their strategy and giving you a significant advantage. It’s an excellent way to tip the scales in your favor by utilizing an opponent’s resources against them.

Resource Acceleration: While not direct resource acceleration, Tentative Connection costs less for each creature in your party, potentially allowing you to cast it for a single red mana. This can leave you with additional resources to leverage that turn, enabling a tempo swing or the deployment of more threats.

Instant Speed: The ability to act at instant speed provides players with flexibility, but it’s important to note that Tentative Connection is actually a sorcery. This means you’ll need to plan your move strategically, seizing the most opportune moment during your turn to maximize its impact.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Tentative Connection comes with the need to toss another card from your hand into the graveyard. If your grip on precious cards is already slipping, this could put you in a tough spot where you’re forced to let go of crucial plays for that temporary control.

Specific Mana Cost: The spell’s demand for both red mana and generic mana means it can’t just slide into any strategy. You’re looking at a commitment to specific colors, which might clash with a more flexible or diverse mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For the level of effect—gaining control of a creature just for a turn—you might find the overall investment of four mana a bit steep. Focused decks might have other spells or creatures that offer more bang for fewer mana bucks, making them go-to choices over Tentative Connection.

Reasons to Include Tentative Connection in Your Collection

Versatility: Tentative Connection can be a flexible addition to decks that are aimed at gaining control of an opponent’s creatures. This card shines in red-based decks with themes of theft and sacrifice, providing an unexpected edge in gameplay.

Combo Potential: This card offers synergy with strategies that revolve around lowering its cost, such as exploiting the number of creatures your opponents control or your own creature count. It pairs well with cards that benefit from sacrificial mechanics or utilize stolen creatures for larger combos.

Meta-Relevance: In metas where creature-based strategies dominate, Tentative Connection grows in value. Its ability to turn an opponent’s assets into your advantage on the fly can disrupt their plans and provide you with opportunities to swing the tide of the game.

How to Beat Tentative Connection

Tentative Connection is a unique card that can upset the balance on the battlefield by allowing you to gain control of an opponent’s creature for a turn. Its real strength lies in its cost reduction mechanic which ties to the number of creatures in your party. To effectively counter Tentative Connection, you should aim to manage your opponent’s party size by removing their creatures, especially those contributing to the party mechanic, such as Clerics, Rogues, Warriors, and Wizards.

Board sweepers or removal spells are particularly effective against Tentative Connection. Cards like Wrath of God or Doom Blade can disrupt your opponent’s battlefield, increasing the cost of Tentative Connection beyond efficiency. Additionally, including instant-speed interaction in your deck, such as Counterspell or Unsubstantiate, allows you to respond directly when your opponent attempts to cast Tentative Connection, foiling their plans without losing a step.

Lastly, keeping a watchful eye on the types of creatures your opponent is playing can give you a strategic edge. By understanding which creatures to remove first, you can minimize the impact of their ‘steal’ effect and maintain control over the game, ensuring that Tentative Connection doesn’t connect as tentatively as your opponent would hope.

Cards like Tentative Connection

Tentative Connection has carved its own niche in the realm of control spells within Magic: The Gathering. Similar to Act of Treason, this card enables a player to take control of an opponent’s creature for a turn. While both cards share this captivating ability, Tentative Connection offers a peculiar advantage by potentially reducing its casting cost in the presence of a human on the battlefield.

Another card worth comparing is Hijack, which not only allows control over a creature but an artifact as well. Though this adds versatility, Hijack lacks the cost reduction feature that makes Tentative Connection appealing for decks interacting with human types. Moreover, Claim the Firstborn stands out with a lower cost but restricts the takeover to creatures with power 3 or less, where Tentative Connection imposes no such limitations.

In essence, Tentative Connection presents a strategic component in MTG that blends well with human-centric decks, offering both the thrill of commandeering your opponent’s threats and synergizing advantageously with other cards. Its unique attributes secure a valuable position in MTG for anyone looking to add a twist to their control tactics.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Tentative Connection MTG card by a specific set like Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, 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 Tentative Connection and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Tentative Connection has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2020-04-17	Once you announce that you’re casting Tentative Connection, no player may take actions until the spell has been paid for. Notably, opponents can’t try to change whether you control a creature with menace.
2020-04-17	Tentative Connection can target any creature, even one that you already control or that is already untapped.
2020-04-17	Tentative Connection is unaffected if you no longer control a creature with menace after you’ve cast it. You won’t have to pay an additional .
2020-04-17	To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you’re paying, add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions (such as that of Tentative Connection). The converted mana cost of the spell remains unchanged, no matter what the total cost to cast it was.