Taunting Challenge MTG Card

Taunting Challenge - Portal Three Kingdoms

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Rare
Type	Sorcery
Released	1999-05-01
Set symbol
Set name	Portal Three Kingdoms
Set code	PTK
Number	152
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	White
Illustred by	Gao Yan

Key Takeaways

Taunting Challenge forces opponent blocks, shaping combat dynamics and potentially tipping trades in your favor.
The card’s instant speed is crucial for flexibility, offering surprise plays and responsive combat strategies.
Drawbacks include a discard requirement and specific mana cost, challenging deck construction and strategy.

Text of card

Choose any one creature. This turn, all creatures able to block it do so.

Incensed by their opponents' unrelenting taunts, even wise generals were known to rashly lead their troops into battle—often to disastrous defeats.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Taunting Challenge enables you to compel an opponent to block your creatures, leading to potentially advantageous trades and allowing you to tactically remove key threats from your opponent’s side. This manipulation of combat can indirectly result in card advantage as you dictate the terms of engagement.

Resource Acceleration: While Taunting Challenge itself doesn’t accelerate resources directly, it can pave the way for your other creatures to connect with the opponent, dealing damage that could enable mechanics like raid or bloodthirst, thus leading to additional plays or hastening your victory.

Instant Speed: The instant speed of Taunting Challenge offers the flexibility to alter the battlefield dynamics during the combat phase, catching an opponent off-guard. It allows you to wait until the most opportune moment before committing to a strategy, which is beneficial for maintaining a responsive playstyle.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Taunting Challenge requires the player to discard a card, posing a potential drawback during situations when maintaining card advantage is crucial.

Specific Mana Cost: The mana cost of Taunting Challenge is strictly green, making it less flexible and potentially difficult to cast in multi-colored or color-scarce decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost on the higher end for its effects, players might find other creatures or spells that provide a better value or synergize more efficiently with their strategies.

Reasons to Include Taunting Challenge in Your Collection

Versatility: Taunting Challenge offers a unique tactical edge as it can draw out opponents’ creatures, giving it a role in various deck builds, particularly those looking to control the combat phase and take advantage of forced blocks.

Combo Potential: It pairs well with cards that benefit from combat tricks or have effects when they deal combat damage to a player, giving it synergy in decks centered around creature-based interactions and damage triggers.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where creature-based strategies are prevalent, Taunting Challenge can serve as a strategic way to break stalemates or capitalize on an opponent’s tapped out state post-combat, making it a tactical addition to your arsenal.

How to beat

Taunting Challenge is an intriguing card that can shift the tide of a duel by compelling opponents to attack if able. Its strength lies in its ability to manipulate combat, forcing an opponent’s hand. Despite its tactical advantages, overcoming this card is about clever battlefield management and anticipating your opponent’s moves.

To effectively neutralize Taunting Challenge, one should consider using removal spells to clear the board before it can influence the combat phase. Cards like Murder or Doom Blade can dispatch creatures, leaving your opponent without a force to compel forward. Additionally, employing creatures with vigilance can maintain a defensive while still allowing a counterattack. Another strategy includes utilizing instant-speed spells that can buff your creatures during combat, thus turning the forced attack into an opportunity for a favorable trade-off.

When facing Taunting Challenge, it’s also wise to control the pace of the game, perhaps by holding back on playing creatures that you’re not willing to lose or by using counter spells to prevent Taunting Challenge from hitting the board in the first place. Understanding the ebb and flow of matches and maintaining a flexible approach to your tactics will ensure that this card becomes less of a threat and more of an inconvenience that you’re well-prepared for.

Cards like Taunting Challenge

Taunting Challenge is an intriguing card that offers a different spin on forcing combat in Magic: The Gathering. It’s in a similar territory to cards like Goading Barricade, which also compels creatures to attack. Yet, Taunting Challenge has its unique charm by targeting multiple opponents in multiplayer games. This sets it apart, creating focused disruption and applying pressure across the board.

Additionally, cards like Disrupt Decorum share a semblance with Taunting Challenge in goading creatures, but they differ significantly. While Disrupt Decorum goads all creatures your opponents control, Taunting Challenge is more selective, allowing for strategic planning in games with numerous combatants. Also, Goblin Diplomats is another card that invokes forced attacks, but it activates on a single turn basis, contrasting with Taunting Challenge’s ongoing effect that can last multiple turns if not dealt with promptly.

When sizing up these cards and considering their mechanical nuances, Taunting Challenge stands out in multiplayer scenarios. It offers an uncommon approach to manipulating combat, demonstrating its value when influencing enemy strategies, particularly in large gaming sessions within Magic: The Gathering.

Cards similar to Taunting Challenge by color, type and mana cost

Rosethorn Acolyte // Seasonal Ritual - MTG Card versions

Lovestruck Beast // Heart's Desire - MTG Card versions

Gift of the Gargantuan - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Taunting Challenge MTG card by a specific set like Portal Three Kingdoms, 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 Taunting Challenge and other MTG cards: