Sinking Feeling MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Enchantment — Aura
Abilities	Enchant
Released	2008-05-02
Set symbol
Set name	Shadowmoor
Set code	SHM
Number	51
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Ron Brown

Key Takeaways

Offers card advantage by drawing upon discard, aiding late-game hand balance.
Instant speed usage of Sinking Feeling adds depth and versatility in response plays.
Dual mana requirement and high cost can limit its playability across various decks.

Text of card

Enchant creature Enchanted creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step. Enchanted creature has ", Put a -1/-1 counter on this creature: Untap this creature."

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Sinking Feeling can provide card advantage by potentially drawing a card through discarding, thus maintaining hand equilibrium in the late game.

Resource Acceleration: Catering to blue deck strategies, Sinking Feeling can untap a permanent, offering subtle ramp potential or utility to reactivate mana sources or key artifacts.

Instant Speed: The ability to play Sinking Feeling at instant speed grants strategic versatility, enabling players to respond to threats or optimize the timing of their card plays during an opponent’s turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Sinking Feeling requires a player to discard a card, which can be a significant drawback during tight gameplay situations where card advantage is crucial.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands both blue mana and generic mana, which can be a hurdle for multi-color decks that may not consistently have the required blue mana available.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its mana cost, Sinking Feeling may be considered too expensive for the effect it delivers, especially when there are other enchantments or instant-speed interactions that provide more immediate or impactful results.

Reasons to Include Sinking Feeling in Your Collection

Versatility: Sinking Feeling offers a flexible control mechanism. It can be integrated into decks that capitalize on manipulating opponent’s creatures, fitting snugly into blue control or combo strategies.

Combo Potential: This enchantment allows for interesting interactions, particularly with cards that benefit from tapping or untapping creatures. It enables a variety of combos, potentially locking down your opponent’s board or generating value for your strategy.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta with creature-heavy decks or those reliant on tapping abilities, Sinking Feeling can be unexpectedly effective. Its presence can significantly disrupt your opponent’s plays, making it a tactical inclusion in the right environment.

How to beat Sinking Feeling

Sinking Feeling is an intriguing blue enchantment in Magic: The Gathering that can pose hurdles by allowing a player to tap or weaken an opponent’s creatures gradually. Enchantment removal is a straightforward strategy to counter this pesky card; options include Disenchant or Naturalize, which dismantle the enchantment and instantly neutralize its effect. Playing cards that grant your creatures hexproof or shroud, like Asceticism or Swiftfoot Boots, can also prevent Sinking Feeling from latching onto your valuable creatures in the first place.

Another tactic involves utilizing spells that untap your creatures, such as Vitalize or To Arms!, mitigating the tapping ability of Sinking Feeling. Counterspells, always a staple in blue mages’ arsenals, can effectively stop Sinking Feeling before it even sees play. Alternatively, establishing a quick paced aggro strategy can overpower a deck relying on a slower enchantment like Sinking Feeling, by overwhelming the opponent before they can get their locking mechanisms properly set up.

Ultimately, while Sinking Feeling can be disruptive, numerous methods exist within the vast card pool of Magic: The Gathering to address and overcome its effects, ensuring your deck maintains the upper hand.

Cards like Sinking Feeling

Sinking Feeling occupies a unique niche within the wide array of blue enchantments in the world of Magic: The Gathering. It shares similarities with a card like Clinging Anemones, which also manipulates counters, specifically, it places +1/+1 counters on itself. Both heighten the strategic element of creature utility in play but Sinking Feeling allows for a repeated, albeit different, effect by giving the player the ability to tap a creature by placing a -1/-1 counter on it. This ability, unlike Clinging Anemones, can be used as an offensive tool or to create defensive opportunities.

Icefeather Aven, too, interacts closely with creature manipulation. The Aven, however, focuses on a temporary effect by returning creatures to their owner’s hands, instead of placing ongoing -1/-1 counters like Sinking Feeling. Additionally, Sinking Feeling’s cost of using its ability can be utilized multiple times, potentially weakening an opponent’s creature over time or clearing the way for a decisive attack.

In the larger context, Sinking Feeling may not be as immediately impactful as some other cards, it shines in a deck built around controlling the battlefield tempo and grinding out victory from prolonged engagements. This sets it apart and underlines its value for strategic MTG play.

Cards similar to Sinking Feeling by color, type and mana cost

Threads of Disloyalty - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Sinking Feeling MTG card by a specific set like Shadowmoor, 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 Sinking Feeling and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

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

Date	Text
2008-05-01	Sinking Feeling grants the untap ability to the creature it’s enchanting. Only the creature’s controller can activate that ability, not Sinking Feeling’s controller.