Distended Mindbender MTG Card
2016-07-22 - Number 3
2016-07-22 - Number 3s
2023-03-21 - Number 3
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 8 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Creature — Eldrazi Insect |
| Abilities | Emerge |
| Power | 5 |
| Toughness | 5 |
Key Takeaways
- Distended Mindbender disrupts opponent strategies while building your board dominance.
- Emerge ability enables early play, setting a swift and resilient tempo.
- Strategic plays against Mindbender include instant-speed removal and strategic hand management.
Text of card
Emerge (You may cast this spell by sacrificing a creature and paying the emerge cost reduced by that creature's converted mana cost.) When you cast Distended Mindbender, target opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose from it a nonland card with converted mana cost 3 or less and a card with converted mana cost 4 or greater. That player discards those cards.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Distended Mindbender excels at disrupting opponents’ hands while simultaneously beefing up your own field presence. By forcing the opponent to discard two cards, you’re not just removing resources from their grasp but also paving the way for your future plays to go uncontested.
Resource Acceleration: This formidable creature can hit the battlefield earlier than expected thanks to its Emerge ability. By sacrificing a lower-cost creature, you effectively reduce the casting cost of Distended Mindbender, allowing for a quicker play while establishing a significant threat on the board.
Instant Speed: While not an instant itself, this card can be a boon in instant-speed-focused decks. Its Emerge ability can be utilized during your main phase following any instant-speed interactions in your opponent’s turn, adjusting the tempo in your favor and leaving your adversary at a severe strategic disadvantage.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One of the hurdles when playing Distended Mindbender is the necessity to sacrifice a creature in addition to its mana cost. This can be a steep price, especially if your board presence is already weak or if the sacrificed creature was critical to your strategy.
Specific Mana Cost: With a specific casting cost that includes both colorless and black mana, Distended Mindbender requires a dedicated mana base. This can restrict deck-building options and may not fit into multicolored decks without significant support to consistently produce the necessary mana.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite its potential for hand disruption, Distended Mindbender comes with a relatively high mana cost at eight, or six with emerge, potentially slowing down your tempo. Given this cost, it competes with other high-impact cards in your deck which may offer immediate board presence or other significant advantages without the additional requirement of sacrificing a creature.
Reasons to Include Distended Mindbender in Your Collection
Versatility: Distended Mindbender offers a unique ability to actively disrupt your opponent’s hand while providing a formidable body on the board. This dual purpose makes it a valuable inclusion in various decks that thrive on information warfare and board presence.
Combo Potential: Due to its emerge ability, Distended Mindbender can be cast at a reduced cost, synergizing well with decks that utilize creature sacrifice for gain. It fits into strategies designed to leverage such synergies for an overwhelming mid-game advantage.
Meta-Relevance: In an environment where players frequently hold cards that can turn the tide of the game, having Distended Mindbender can tilt the scales in your favor by stripping away key pieces of opponents’ strategies. It’s particularly potent against control decks that rely heavily on specific spells.
How to Beat Distended Mindbender
Distended Mindbender is a unique creature card in MTG that comes with powerful abilities to disrupt your opponent’s hand. When casting this Eldrazi Insect, the emerge mechanic allows you to sacrifice a smaller creature to reduce the casting cost, which then triggers its potent hand-disruption effect upon entering the battlefield. This can present a challenge by stripping away important resources from your hand and shaping the game in your opponent’s favor.
To effectively counter Distended Mindbender, it’s crucial to hold onto instant-speed removal spells that can eliminate it before its ability affects your gameplay. Consider cards that can exile or destroy creatures at instant speed, such as Path to Exile or Doom Blade. Additionally, cards that grant hexproof to your own creatures or spells that can counter creature spells can thwart the Mindbender before it hits the board, preventing its disruptive ability from impacting your strategy.
Another key strategy is to play with lower-value cards in your hand if you expect a Distended Mindbender play. By doing so, the impact of its hand removal ability is minimized, allowing you to hold onto your major threats and responses. Properly timing your spells and maintaining a flexible strategy can help you maintain control of the game despite the Mindbender’s daunting presence.
Cards like Distended Mindbender
Distended Mindbender holds a unique position in the pantheon of creature cards within Magic: The Gathering. The eight mana Eldrazi Insect is a force to be reckoned with, especially due to its potent enter the battlefield effect that forces an opponent to sacrifice two cards from their hand. It bears similarity to creatures such as Thought-Knot Seer, which allows you to peek at an opponent’s hand and exile a card. However, Distended Mindbender offers a broader impact, targeting two cards without the caveat of a converted mana cost limit.
When comparing it to another card, Blight Herder also comes into focus. Both creatures interact with an opponent’s hand and benefit from processing cards an opponent owns that are exiled. Nevertheless, Blight Herder offers a different form of advantage by creating three 1/1 Eldrazi Scion creature tokens, as opposed to Mindbender’s targeted discard.
Overall, Distended Mindbender can be a game-changer in MTG, disrupting opponents’ plans with unparalleled efficiency. Its strength lies in its ability to tip the scales of the game heavily in your favor by stripping away key pieces of your opponent’s strategy.
Cards similar to Distended Mindbender by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Distended Mindbender MTG card by a specific set like Eldritch Moon and Eldritch Moon Promos, 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 Distended Mindbender and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Distended Mindbender Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2016-07-22 and 2023-03-21. Illustrated by Yohann Schepacz.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2016-07-22 | Eldritch Moon | EMN | 3 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Yohann Schepacz | |
| 2 | 2016-07-22 | Eldritch Moon Promos | PEMN | 3s | 2015 | Normal | Black | Yohann Schepacz | |
| 3 | 2023-03-21 | Shadows over Innistrad Remastered | SIR | 3 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Yohann Schepacz |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Distended Mindbender has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Distended Mindbender card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2016-07-13 | A creature’s converted mana cost is determined solely by the mana symbols printed in its upper right corner (unless that creature is the back face of a double-faced card, is a melded permanent, or is copying something else; see below). If the mana cost includes , X is considered to be 0. If it’s a single-faced card with no mana symbols in its upper right corner (because it’s an animated land, for example), its converted mana cost is 0. Ignore any alternative costs or additional costs (such as kicker) that were paid as the creature was cast. |
| 2016-07-13 | A “when you cast” triggered ability resolves before the original spell resolves. It resolves even if the original spell is countered, and the original spell resolves even if the triggered ability is countered. |
| 2016-07-13 | Colored mana components of emerge costs can’t be reduced with emerge. |
| 2016-07-13 | Distended Mindbender’s last ability triggers after you’ve taken all the actions necessary to cast the spell. |
| 2016-07-13 | Each card with emerge is colorless and has an emerge cost that includes one or more colors of mana. These cards are still colorless if you pay the emerge cost. |
| 2016-07-13 | If a card in a player’s hand has in its mana cost, X is considered to be 0. |
| 2016-07-13 | If there aren’t two appropriate cards to choose, choose whichever you can and that player discards that card. |
| 2016-07-13 | If you sacrifice a creature with in its mana cost, that X is considered to be 0. |
| 2016-07-13 | Once you begin to cast a spell with emerge, no player may take actions until you’re done. Notably, opponents can’t try to remove the creature you wish to sacrifice. |
| 2016-07-13 | The converted mana cost of a creature spell with emerge isn’t affected by whether its emerge cost is paid. For example, if you cast Elder Deep-Fiend for its emerge cost and sacrifice a creature whose converted mana cost is 3, Elder Deep-Fiend’s converted mana cost remains 8. |
| 2016-07-13 | The converted mana cost of the back face of a double-faced card is the converted mana cost of its front face. The converted mana cost of a melded permanent is the sum of the converted mana costs of its front faces. A creature that’s a copy of either has a converted mana cost of 0. |
| 2016-07-13 | The creature chosen to be sacrificed is still on the battlefield up through the time that you activate mana abilities. Its abilities may affect the spell’s cost, be activated to generate mana, and so on. However, if it has an ability that triggers when a spell is cast, it will have been sacrificed before that ability can trigger. |
| 2016-07-13 | You may sacrifice a creature with a converted mana cost of 0, such as a token creature that’s not a copy of another permanent, to cast a spell for its emerge cost. You’ll just pay the full emerge cost with no reduction. |
| 2016-07-13 | You may sacrifice a creature with converted mana cost greater than or equal to the emerge cost. If you do, you’ll pay only the colored mana component of the emerge cost. |
| 2016-07-13 | You must choose two appropriate cards if able. |
