Glaring Spotlight MTG Card


Glaring Spotlight - Gatecrash
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityRare
TypeArtifact
Released2013-02-01
Set symbol
Set nameGatecrash
Set codeGTC
Number229
Frame2003
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byAdam Paquette

Key Takeaways

  1. Glaring Spotlight disrupts defenses, making your creatures unblockable and forcing opponents to respond.
  2. Instant speed activation allows strategic plays, turning the tide of the game unexpectedly.
  3. Combining Glaring Spotlight in your collection offers meta-game relevance, enhancing strategic depth.

Text of card

Creatures your opponents control with hexproof can be the targets of spells and abilities you control as though they didn't have hexproof. , Sacrifice Glaring Spotlight: Creatures you control gain hexproof until end of turn and are unblockable this turn.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Glaring Spotlight offers an underrated card advantage. By enabling your creatures to become unblockable, it virtually nullifies your opponent’s board, letting you get ahead in the game.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly accelerating your resources, Glaring Spotlight affects the pace of the game. You force your opponent to react to your board state since your creatures are now unblockable. This presents opportunities for you to make strategic plays that tip the scales in your favor.

Instant Speed: Glaring Spotlight has an activated ability that can be used at instant speed. This allows you to time its activation perfectly to bypass unsuspecting defenses or protect your creatures from targeted abilities and spells. The surprise factor involved is a great tactical advantage.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Glaring Spotlight does not function on its own. To utilize its potential, you must discard it from your field. It can put you at a disadvantage if you’re low on resources, and need to use Glaring Spotlight to its full potential.

Specific Mana Cost: An essential factor to note is, besides its low casting cost, Glaring Spotlight requires a significant sum of three colorless mana to activate its secondary ability. This specific mana requirement might limit its usability to certain decks, especially those tight on mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Even though Glaring Spotlight costs only one mana to put on the field, the activation cost is a little steep. Indeed, there might be other cards in the game that provide similar benefits, perhaps even better ones, for a lesser or more manageable mana investment.


Reasons to Include Glaring Spotlight in Your Collection

Versatility: Glaring Spotlight enhances any deck that requires disruption of enemy defenses. By nullifying the hexproof of your opponent’s creatures, it allows your tactics to punch through unimpeded. This card can be crucial in decks that specialize around targeting the opponent’s board.

Combo Potential: Glaring Spotlight generates opportunities for deadly combinations. By sacrificing it, not only can you make creatures you control unblockable this turn, but you can also gain the benefit of using three mana of any kind. This ability can be exploited to execute a fatal alpha strike, crushing your opponent’s defenses.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where creature-heavy strategies and decks using hexproof or shroud creatures are prevalent, Glaring Spotlight becomes an invaluable asset. It can tip the balance and break through the enemy lines, making it an essential piece in many strategic plans.


How to Beat

Glaring Spotlight, a unique artifact card from Magic: The Gathering, has the ability to render your opponent’s creatures vulnerable by removing their hexproof status, allowing targeted spells to reach their mark. It can be an astounding advantage, yet there are ways to beat its effects to ensure your MTG strategy remains intact.

Firstly, artifact removal cards can effectively dismantle Glaring Spotlight before its abilities come into play. Cards like Naturalize or Smash to Smithereens can be employed to directly target and destroy the Spotlight card and prevent its implications.

A different approach to beating Glaring Spotlight would be employing a high-count of untargetable or indestructible cards. Cards that possess “Shroud” cannot be targeted by spells or abilities, even when hexproof is compromised. Indestructible units, meanwhile, can withstand most damage regardless of losing hexproof.

To effectively outwit the Glaring Spotlight and others similar, it comes down to clever deck construction and careful gameplay. Priming your strategy with an assortment of untargetable and indestructible creatures, backed up with swift artifact removal, you can successfully beat the Glaring Spotlight Mtg Card in Magic: The Gathering.


BurnMana Recommendations

Glaring Spotlight is more than meets the eye in the MTG arena, subtly shifting the tide of matches. It aligns with strategies that aim to dismantle your opponent’s defenses and widens the window for a critical strike. Recognizing when to deploy its ability to render your adversary’s creatures vulnerable can require finesse and tactical acumen. For those looking to refine their deck with a card that offers both offensive enhancement and disruptive potential, Glaring Spotlight warrants consideration. Elevate your game by discovering innovative combos and strategies that can be built around this versatile artifact.


Cards like Glaring Spotlight

Glaring Spotlight is a unique piece in the complex MTG puzzle. Its function can be compared to cards like Pithing Needle and Phyrexian Revoker, which also hamper the abilities of targeted cards. Unlike Pithing Needle and Phyrexian Revoker, Glaring Spotlight does not restrict abilities activation; instead, it makes the creatures controlled by your opponents lose hexproof and shroud until the end of turn.

Another card, Asceticism, also interacts with hexproof. It enables all creatures under your control to acquire hexproof. While Glaring Spotlight exposes opponents’ creatures, Asceticism shields your own. Their harmonious combination could disrupt your opponent’s defenses, revealing a crucial strategic advantage.

We also find Veil of Summer, which offers hexproof by making you and your creatures untargetable by blue or black spells, a function in the same ballpark with Glaring Spotlight, but with a defensive twist.

In conclusion, the Glaring Spotlight, when juxtaposed with the likes of Pithing Needle, Phyrexian Revoker, and Asceticism, carves its niche. It unveils the unseen and breaks powerful defenses, often becoming a turning point in MTG gameplay.

Pithing Needle - MTG Card versions
Phyrexian Revoker - MTG Card versions
Asceticism - MTG Card versions
Veil of Summer - MTG Card versions
Pithing Needle - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Phyrexian Revoker - Mirrodin Besieged (MBS)
Asceticism - Scars of Mirrodin (SOM)
Veil of Summer - Core Set 2020 (M20)

Cards similar to Glaring Spotlight by color, type and mana cost

Glasses of Urza - MTG Card versions
Wooden Sphere - MTG Card versions
Sol Ring - MTG Card versions
Iron Star - MTG Card versions
Library of Leng - MTG Card versions
Black Vise - MTG Card versions
Urza's Chalice - MTG Card versions
Ivory Cup - MTG Card versions
Brass Man - MTG Card versions
Mana Vault - MTG Card versions
Soul Net - MTG Card versions
The Rack - MTG Card versions
Helm of Chatzuk - MTG Card versions
Obelisk of Undoing - MTG Card versions
Feldon's Cane - MTG Card versions
Ivory Tower - MTG Card versions
Meekstone - MTG Card versions
Throne of Bone - MTG Card versions
Crystal Rod - MTG Card versions
Thran Foundry - MTG Card versions
Glasses of Urza - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Wooden Sphere - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Sol Ring - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Iron Star - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Library of Leng - Unlimited Edition (2ED)
Black Vise - Revised Edition (3ED)
Urza's Chalice - Masters Edition (ME1)
Ivory Cup - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Brass Man - Foreign Black Border (FBB)
Mana Vault - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Soul Net - Fifth Edition (5ED)
The Rack - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Helm of Chatzuk - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Obelisk of Undoing - Rinascimento (RIN)
Feldon's Cane - Pro Tour Collector Set (PTC)
Ivory Tower - Pro Tour Collector Set (PTC)
Meekstone - World Championship Decks 2000 (WC00)
Throne of Bone - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Crystal Rod - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Thran Foundry - World Championship Decks 1999 (WC99)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Glaring Spotlight MTG card by a specific set like Gatecrash, 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 Glaring Spotlight and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Glaring Spotlight has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2013-01-24 Creatures that come under your control after Glaring Spotlight’s last ability resolves won’t have hexproof but they can’t be blocked that turn.
2013-01-24 Creatures your opponents control don’t actually lose hexproof, although you will ignore hexproof for purposes of choosing targets of spells and abilities you control.

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