Diminish MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityCommon
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. The spell can shift control by changing creature stats, impacting combat outcomes favorably.
  2. Mana-efficient and versatile, Diminish easily fits into various strategic blue mana plans.
  3. Playable at instant speed for unexpected plays, enhancing reactive and flexible strategies.

Text of card

Target creature becomes 1/1 until end of turn.

"'That was a narrow escape!' said Alice, a good deal frightened at the sudden change, but very glad to find herself still in existence." —Lewis Carroll, *Alice's Adventures in Wonderland*


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Diminish allows for tactical card management by reducing an enemy creature’s power and toughness, thereby presenting an opportunity to neutralize potential threats. This strategic diminution offers a pivotal shift in board control and can indirectly lead to card advantage through improved combat outcomes.

Resource Acceleration: As a low-cost spell, casting Diminish does not heavily tax your resources, allowing for a wider adoption in multiple deck types. Consequently, its mana efficiency helps to streamline your plays and accelerates your ability to deploy further strategies within the same turn or forthcoming turns.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Diminish at instant speed provides an element of surprise and flexibility, aligning with reactionary gameplay and fostering decision-making that’s responsive to an evolving battlefield. It engages the potential to disrupt an opponent’s combat phase and alter the calculus of their offensive or defensive plans at critical junctures in the match.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the drawbacks of using Diminish is the potential need to discard another card to fully utilize its effects. This can be a significant disadvantage, especially when your hand is running low and every card counts.

Specific Mana Cost: Diminish comes with a blue mana cost, which can restrict its integration into multicolor decks that may have a different focus or mana base. Players who do not run blue may find it challenging to harness the card’s full potential.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although Diminish may offer a unique effect by reducing a creature’s power and toughness, its mana cost can be deemed high relative to other options. Alternative spells exist that could provide similar or superior board impact at a lower mana expense.


Reasons to Include Diminish in Your Collection

Versatility: Diminish can be a valuable card in various deck builds. It’s especially useful for blue-control or tempo strategies that aim to reduce the potency of massive threats without permanently removing them.

Combo Potential: This card works great in tandem with effects that trigger upon damage, such as those found on cards like “Hissing Iguanar” or “Blood Artist.” Reducing a creature’s power and toughness to 1 allows for controlled and often beneficial exchanges in combat or through spells.

Meta-Relevance: Given that creature-based strategies are commonplace, Diminish proves useful in a meta that leans heavily on voltron commanders or beefy creatures. It acts as a temporary answer, allowing for a strategic breather and providing time to establish your board state or find a more permanent solution.


How to beat

Diminish is an insightful card in the Magic universe that can turn the tides of a creature-based standoff. What stands out about Diminish is its ability to reduce any target creature’s power and toughness to 1/1 until the end of turn. It’s a perfect way to handle formidable creatures your opponent controls, rendering them almost harmless with a single blue mana investment.

When comparing Diminish to other control elements, its directness and efficiency are noteworthy. It’s similar to cards like Humble or Turn to Frog, which also neutralize threatening creatures. However, Diminish is unique in its minimal cost and its focus solely on altering combat stats without affecting abilities. To successfully navigate past a Diminish play, strategic use of Instant-speed buffs or abilities can counteract its diminishing effects. The key is to anticipate and prepare for such spells that target your key creatures, maintaining balance and readiness for instantaneous power shifts in the duel.

Ultimately, knowing when and how to play around such tricks is essential. Diminish, while powerful, is a temporary setback that can be overcome with the right approach and cards in hand, demonstrating the depth and strategy within the gameplay of Magic.


Cards like Diminish

Diminish is a unique blue spell in the Magic: The Gathering universe that has an immediate impact on the battlefield. It’s often compared to other creature-weakening spells like Turn to Frog. What sets Diminish apart is its ability to shrink a target creature’s power and toughness to 1/1 until end of turn. By contrast, Turn to Frog not only reduces the target’s stats to 1/1 but also strips away all abilities, effectively muting creatures with potent abilities for the turn.

Hydrosurge is another card that sees comparison with Diminish. While Hydrosurge doesn’t affect toughness, it allows players to reduce a creature’s power by a significant five points, which can be sufficient to neutralize a threat in combat. However, Diminish’s ability to also lower toughness can be a clear advantage in dealing with creatures that have damage-dealing abilities that occur even without combat.

Considering these nuances, Diminish holds a secure place in blue control decks within the Magic: The Gathering landscape. It may not entirely neutralize a creature like Turn to Frog, but its simplicity and the strategic depth it offers in managing opponent’s creatures gives it a spot in the arsenal of any player fond of blue spells.

Turn to Frog - MTG Card versions
Hydrosurge - MTG Card versions
Turn to Frog - Magic 2012 (M12)
Hydrosurge - Magic 2013 (M13)

Cards similar to Diminish by color, type and mana cost

Ancestral Recall - MTG Card versions
Jump - MTG Card versions
Sleight of Mind - MTG Card versions
Twiddle - MTG Card versions
Unsummon - MTG Card versions
Siren's Call - MTG Card versions
Power Sink - MTG Card versions
Blue Elemental Blast - MTG Card versions
Spell Blast - MTG Card versions
Magical Hack - MTG Card versions
Riptide - MTG Card versions
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Mind Bend - MTG Card versions
Denied! - MTG Card versions
Hydroblast - MTG Card versions
Whispers of the Muse - MTG Card versions
Ertai's Trickery - MTG Card versions
Force Spike - MTG Card versions
Opt - MTG Card versions
Envelop - MTG Card versions
Ancestral Recall - Vintage Championship (OVNT)
Jump - Magic 2010 (M10)
Sleight of Mind - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Twiddle - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Unsummon - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Siren's Call - Collectors' Edition (CED)
Power Sink - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Blue Elemental Blast - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Spell Blast - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Magical Hack - Intl. Collectors' Edition (CEI)
Riptide - The Dark (DRK)
Winter's Chill - Ice Age (ICE)
Mind Bend - Tenth Edition (10E)
Denied! - Unglued (UGL)
Hydroblast - World Championship Decks 1998 (WC98)
Whispers of the Muse - World Championship Decks 1998 (WC98)
Ertai's Trickery - Planeshift (PLS)
Force Spike - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Opt - Jumpstart 2022 (J22)
Envelop - Judgment (JUD)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Diminish MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2011 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 Diminish and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Diminish Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2010-07-16 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Eric Deschamps.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12010-07-16Magic 2011M11 522003normalblackEric Deschamps
22017-11-17Iconic MastersIMA 502015normalblackEric Deschamps
32019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 3482015normalblackEric Deschamps
42020-09-26The ListPLST IMA-502015normalblackEric Deschamps

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Diminish has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2017-11-17 Diminish overwrites all previous effects that set the target creature’s power and toughness to specific values. Other effects that set its power or toughness to specific values that start to apply after Diminish resolves will overwrite this effect.
2017-11-17 Effects that modify the target creature’s power or toughness, such as the effects of Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or prowess, will apply to it no matter when they started to take effect. The same is true for counters that change the creature’s power or toughness (such as +1/+1 counters).

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