Rubble Reading MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Common
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Scry
Released	2019-01-25
Set symbol
Set name	Ravnica Allegiance
Set code	RNA
Number	110
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Aaron Miller

Key Takeaways

Rubble Reading provides dual benefits by disrupting opponents’ mana and scrying to organize future plays.
Its versatility and combo potential make it a strong candidate for themed decks in the MTG realm.
Despite its higher mana cost, the strategic edge it provides can justify its inclusion in a well-curated deck.

Text of card

Destroy target land. Scry 2.

Gruul oracles see omens in all forms of destruction: the entrails of a maaka's prey, the flight of vultures over a battlefield, the scattering of toppled stone.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Rubble Reading delivers strategic depth by letting you destroy a target land, which can hamstring your opponent’s mana base and potentially disrupt their game plan. This can lead to indirect card advantage as your opponent may be prevented from playing key spells on curve.

Resource Acceleration: With Rubble Reading, while you set your opponent back by taking out a land, you also get to scry 2. This subtle form of resource acceleration lets you filter the next draws, ensuring you get to the spells and lands you need faster, promoting a smoother and more efficient game progression.

Instant Speed: While Rubble Reading is not an instant itself, being aware of instant speed spells in the format can influence the timing of this sorcery. Being clever with when you deploy land destruction can be as crucial as having instant speed interactions, especially when you bait out counter magic or protection spells and follow up with this potent land disruptor.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Rubble Reading necessitates discarding a card as an additional cost to cast it. This makes it less attractive in fast-paced games where maintaining hand advantage can be crucial.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands a specific mana alignment, with both colorless and red mana required. This could potentially restrict its inclusion to decks that are heavily red or those that have the capacity to generate multiple mana colors with ease.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that requires four mana, its output must be weighed against other cards of similar cost. Players might find the effect of destroying a land and the subsequent card advantage insufficient when considering other options available in the wider card pool with a lower or more flexible mana commitment.

Reasons to Include Rubble Reading in Your Collection

Versatility: Rubble Reading serves well in land destruction or land interaction themes. The ability to disrupt an opponent’s mana base, coupled with card draw, enhances its flexibility within various strategies.

Combo Potential: This card can play a key role in combinations designed to dismantle an opponent’s foundation. When used in conjunction with cards that capitalize on an opponent being land-starved, it can turn the tide of a game.

Meta-Relevance: In a landscape where nonbasic lands are crucial for multi-colored decks, Rubble Reading finds its niche by selectively targeting key lands, potentially hamstringing elaborate mana-fixing efforts and stalling opponents’ strategies.

How to beat

Rubble Reading is a tactical spell among the sorceries available in Magic: The Gathering. This card isn’t just about disruption—it’s a strategic move to set your opponents back while getting crucial insights into their deck. The spell’s unique ability to destroy a land and then force the opponent to reveal their top card offers a dual advantage, disrupting their mana base and giving you a sneak peek into their upcoming plays. This peek could be invaluable, helping you to anticipate and counter their strategy effectively.

To outplay Rubble Reading, you should focus on maintaining a robust mana base that can withstand land destruction. Diversify your lands or include cards that can retrieve land from the graveyard to your hand. Cards that offer land protection or counter spells also serve as a solid defense against such disruption. Additionally, having a clear understanding of your deck and adjusting your game plan even when your top card is revealed can mitigate the information advantage given to your opponent by Rubble Reading.

By staying one step ahead and adapting to the potential land loss, you enhance your resilience against this formidable strategy, keeping your plan intact despite the challenges Rubble Reading brings to the game.

Cards like Rubble Reading

Rubble Reading finds its niche in the vast library of land destruction and scrying spells available in Magic: The Gathering. Comparable to cards like Demolish, Rubble Reading allows a player to destroy a land, albeit at a higher mana cost. However, Rubble Reading has an upper hand with its scry 2 ability, providing the strategic advantage of manipulating upcoming draws which Demolish lacks.

Another parallel is drawn with Pillage, an older MTG spell with the same land destruction capability, combined with the flexibility of targeting artifacts. Although Pillage doesn’t let you scry, it compensates with a lower casting cost and the same versatility for managing threats. On the other hand, structural collapse is an alternative that not only destroys land but also requires the opponent to sacrifice an artifact or be dealt 2 damage – an intimidating proposition, but for an additional mana and without the beneficial scry.

In evaluating land disruption strategies, Rubin Reading offers a unique blend of immediate board impact with the bonus of future game planning through scrying. Its place in MTG is earned by aligning land removal with the foresight to guide one’s next moves.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Rubble Reading MTG card by a specific set like Ravnica Allegiance, 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 Rubble Reading and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Rubble Reading 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 Rubble Reading card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2019-01-25	If the target land is an illegal target by the time Rubble Reading tries to resolve, the spell doesn’t resolve. You don’t scry 2. If the target is legal but not destroyed (most likely because it has indestructible), you do scry 2.