Stabbing Pain MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 1 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Instant |
| Released | 2010-07-16 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Magic 2011 |
| Set code | M11 |
| Number | 118 |
| Frame | 2003 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai |
Key Takeaways
- Stabbing Pain can lead to card advantage by influencing combat outcomes in your favor.
- It demands specific mana and the discard of another card, which may limit playability.
- Its versatility makes it a strong tactical choice for controlling the battlefield.
Text of card
Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn. Tap that creature.
"You can take the fight out of nearly any creature if you know where its soft spot is." —Guttor, flesh-warper
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Stabbing Pain enables you to disrupt your opponent’s strategy by weakening a creature. This can indirectly lead to a card advantage if it results in a favorable combat trade or prevents your foe from capitalizing on their creatures’ abilities.
Resource Acceleration: While Stabbing Pain does not directly offer resource acceleration, the tempo swing it provides when used at the right moment can put you significantly ahead, buying time to develop your resources.
Instant Speed: The flexibility of casting Stabbing Pain at instant speed cannot be overstated. This allows you to adapt to the game’s flow, using it to weaken a creature before it deals damage or disrupt combat math in your favor.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: When playing the Stabbing Pain card, you’ll find yourself needing to part with another card from your hand, which could push you into a challenging position, particularly if your hand is already running low on options.
Specific Mana Cost: Stabbing Pain demands a precise mana allocation, including both black mana, which may not always align seamlessly with your deck’s mana base, potentially causing delays or restricting its playability to specific deck types.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost that might be considered steep for the combat trick it provides, players could be deterred, considering alternative spells that offer greater versatility or impact for a similar, if not lower, investment of mana resources.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Stabbing Pain provides a flexible response to multiple battlefield situations. Whether manipulating combat outcomes or enabling removal of key threats, its utility makes it a worthwhile addition to any deck that prioritizes tactical control.
Combo Potential: With the ability to tap creatures, Stabbing Pain syncs well with cards and mechanics that capitalize on tapped-out opponents. This opens the door for combinations that can protect your life total while setting up favorable board states.
Meta-Relevance: Given its capacity for instant-speed interaction, Stabbing Pain proves its worth in metas cluttered with aggressive creatures. It offers a quick and efficient way to thwart opponents’ strategies and maintain parity on the board.
How to beat
Stabbing Pain is a tactical spell found in the vast repository of Magic: The Gathering cards that can pose a unique challenge on the battlefield. This card allows its controller to give a creature -1/-1 until end of turn and has the potential to tap the targeted creature. This can shift the tide of combat, effectively neutralizing an opponent’s key creature at a critical moment.
To effectively counter Stabbing Pain, players should prioritize maintaining a diverse array of creatures with a variety of toughness levels. This mitigates the risk posed by a single point of damage. It’s also prudent to hold instant-speed removal or counterspells that can be deployed to intercept or negate the spell. Moreover, hexproof or shroud abilities can render creatures immune to such targeted spells, ensuring your critical assets remain unaffected.
Understanding the nuances of tempo and control can also turn the tables against Stabbing Pain. By applying pressure and overwhelming an opponent with threats, they may find themselves unable to spare mana for such reactive tactics. Control decks should be wary though, as allocating resources to protect key creatures could leave them vulnerable elsewhere. In summary, clever deck building and strategic play are essential to outmaneuver the disruptive power of Stabbing Pain.
Cards like Stabbing Pain
Stabbing Pain is a unique spell that finds its niche in Magic: The Gathering’s array of tactical instant spells. When compared with other cards, Stabbing Pain enables players to not only deal that crucial one damage to a creature but also tap it, thus preventing it from blocking or using its tap abilities. This is somewhat similar to the ability seen in cards like Clinging Darkness, which also hampers an enemy creature, albeit by reducing its power and toughness rather than tapping it.
Looking at Frost Breath, another related card, we see a similar freeze mechanic in effect, capable of tapping up to two creatures and preventing them from untapping during their controller’s next untap step. Although Frost Breath affects multiple creatures, it lacks the damage dealing aspect of Stabbing Pain. Conversely, Twitch stands out by allowing the option to either tap or untap a creature and draw a card, offering a blend of utility that differs from the direct disruption Stabbing Pain provides.
Assessing the special blend of damage and control offered by Stabbing Pain, it’s clear that while similar cards might offer utility in other aspects, the precise combination of effects in Stabbing Pain makes it a tactical choice for players aiming to manage opposing threats effectively on the battlefield.
Cards similar to Stabbing Pain by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Stabbing Pain MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2011, 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 Stabbing Pain 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
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Stabbing Pain has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Stabbing Pain card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2010-08-15 | If Stabbing Pain targets an untapped creature with 1 toughness, that creature gets -1/-1, then it becomes tapped, then (after Stabbing Pain resolves) it’s put into the graveyard as a state-based action. Similarly, if Stabbing Pain targets an untapped creature with 1 less than lethal damage marked on it (such as a 3/3 creature with 2 damage marked on it), that creature gets -1/-1, then it becomes tapped, then (after Stabbing Pain resolves) it’s destroyed as a state-based action. In each case, any abilities that trigger when that creature becomes tapped will trigger. |
| 2010-08-15 | You may target any creature with Stabbing Pain. It’s okay if it’s already tapped. |
