Mind Bend MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 7 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityUncommon
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. Change text at instant speed, disrupting strategies or bolstering your own with strategic timing.
  2. Low casting cost ensures a smooth mana curve and efficient resource management.
  3. Requires blue mana, potentially limiting deck-building options and versatility.

Text of card

Change the text of target permanent by replacing all instances of one color word or basic land type with another. (For example, you may change "nonred creature" to "nongreen creature" or "plainswalk" to "swampwalk.")


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Mind Bend excels in its subtlety by allowing a change in the text of a permanent or spell, offering strategic card advantage by disrupting opponent’s strategies or enhancing your own.

Resource Acceleration: Despite not directly accelerating resources, Mind Bend’s low mana cost contributes to a lean mana curve, enabling quicker play and saving resources for other crucial spells in your deck.

Instant Speed: The instant speed of Mind Bend ensures you can adapt on the fly, responding to threats or opportunities as they arise and providing a tactical edge during the most critical moments of the game.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Playing Mind Bend means potentially losing grip on another valuable card in your hand. This trade-off might not always be in your favor, especially in game states where card advantage is crucial.

Specific Mana Cost: Mind Bend’s casting requirements include blue mana, which restricts it to blue-aligned decks or those with a mana base versatile enough to accommodate blue spells. This can challenge deck-building flexibility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its mana cost sitting at one blue and one generic mana, Mind Bend can be seen as an investment compared to other utility spells. In fast-paced games where efficiency is key, its cost can set you back.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Mind Bend is a unique blue instant card that offers a wide range of applications across various deck archetypes. Its ability to change the text of a permanent or spell caters to both casual and competitive play, making it a versatile tool for any player.

Combo Potential: The real allure of Mind Bend lies in its combo potential. It can serve as a key piece in complex interactions, often by altering a single word on a card to disrupt an opponent’s strategy or to enhance your own in unexpected ways.

Meta-Relevance: In an ever-shifting MTG meta, having cards like Mind Bend in your arsenal that can adapt and respond to diverse strategies is crucial. It’s a reactive tool that can handle an array of situations and is worth considering for sideboard inclusion or as a mainstay in decks that prize flexibility and surprise tactics.


How to Beat Mind Bend in MTG

Mind Bend is an intriguing instant card that allows for the manipulation of the text on a card by changing a single word. This card might seem daunting, as it has the potential to disrupt strategies that are highly dependent on specific attributes like color or land types. To overcome this sneaky spell, one tactic is to limit reliance on cards with easily altered texts. Furthermore, holding onto counterspells to negate Mind Bend when it’s cast can be pivotal in preserving your game plan.

Having a diverse game strategy that isn’t heavily dependent on a single attribute can also make Mind Bend less harmful. Moreover, employing cards with hexproof or shroud can prevent Mind Bend from targeting and modifying your cards’ text. Players may also consider using cards that benefit from having their attributes changed—effectively turning Mind Bend’s alteration into an advantage for themselves. Balancing a deck to be resilient against such versatile manipulation ensures that an opponent’s Mind Bend becomes more of a minor nuisance rather than a game-changing play.


Cards like Mind Bend

Mind Bend stands out in the realm of MTG color-altering effects. Its ability to permanently change the text of a card by switching one basic land type for another till end of turn allows for unexpected plays and counters, much akin to the whimsical nature of Magical Hack. Unlike Mind Bend’s broader scope, Magical Hack is restricted to textual alterations of words that identify a single basic land type and doesn’t offer the same flexibility.

In line with Mind Bend’s effect, we have Sleight of Mind, allowing players to adjust the text by replacing one color word for another. It’s similar in cost but limited to color words only, whereas Mind Bend can target land type words as well. However, if it’s a mix of mind games and utility you’re after, Whim of Volrath extends this concept further, granting you the ability to change text and offering a buyback option to reuse the spell.

Ultimately, each card presents a unique blend of adaptability and game plan disruption. For strategic deck builders and tacticians, Mind Bend provides a peculiar yet potent tool for outsmarting opponents and steering the game in their favor.

Magical Hack - MTG Card versions
Sleight of Mind - MTG Card versions
Whim of Volrath - MTG Card versions
Magical Hack - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Sleight of Mind - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Whim of Volrath - Tempest (TMP)

Cards similar to Mind Bend by color, type and mana cost

Ancestral Recall - MTG Card versions
Jump - MTG Card versions
Sleight of Mind - 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
Twiddle - MTG Card versions
Riptide - MTG Card versions
Winter's Chill - 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
Brainstorm - MTG Card versions
Ancestral Recall - Intl. Collectors' Edition (CEI)
Jump - Magic 2010 (M10)
Sleight of Mind - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
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)
Twiddle - Introductory Two-Player Set (ITP)
Riptide - The Dark (DRK)
Winter's Chill - Ice Age (ICE)
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)
Brainstorm - Warhammer 40,000 Commander (40K)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Mind Bend MTG card by a specific set like Mirage and Eighth Edition, 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 Mind Bend and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Mind Bend Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 1996-10-08 and 2007-07-13. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11996-10-08MirageMIR 771997normalblackMike Dringenberg
22003-07-28Eighth Edition8ED 92★2003normalblackTony Szczudlo
32003-07-28Eighth Edition8ED 922003normalwhiteTony Szczudlo
42005-07-29Ninth Edition9ED 87★2003normalblackTony Szczudlo
52005-07-29Ninth Edition9ED 872003normalwhiteTony Szczudlo
62007-07-13Tenth Edition10E 93★2003normalblackMike Dringenberg
72007-07-13Tenth Edition10E 932003normalblackMike Dringenberg

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Mind Bend has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2004-10-04 Alters all occurrences of the chosen word in the text box and the type line of the given card.
2004-10-04 Can target a card with no appropriate words on it, or even one with no words at all.
2004-10-04 It can be used to change a land’s type from one basic land type to another. For example, Forest can be changed to Island so it produces blue mana. It doesn’t change the name of any permanent.
2004-10-04 It can’t change a word to the same word. It must be a different word.
2004-10-04 It only changes what is printed on the card (or set on a token when it was created or set by a copy effect). It will not change any effects that are on the permanent.
2004-10-04 You can’t change proper nouns (i.e. card names) such as “Island Fish Jasconius”.
2004-10-04 You choose the words to change on resolution.

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