Confront the Unknown MTG Card

Confront the Unknown - Shadows over Innistrad (SOI)

Shadows over Innistrad (SOI)
2016-04-08 - Number 198

Confront the Unknown - Shadows over Innistrad Remastered (SIR)

Shadows over Innistrad Remastered (SIR)
2023-03-21 - Number 190

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	1
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant
Abilities	Investigate

Key Takeaways

Offers card advantage and combat trick utility, while also allowing players to “investigate” and draw later.
Demands color commitment and card discarding, which could limit deck-building options and hand resources.
Has versatile, meta-relevant applications in a variety of decks, synergizing well with clue mechanics.

Text of card

Investigate, then target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each Clue you control. (To investigate, put a colorless Clue artifact token onto the battlefield with ", Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.")

"Never flinch from the truth." —Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Card Pros

Card Advantage: One of the compelling aspects of Confront the Unknown is its potential for card advantage. This spell not only boosts one of your creatures, potentially tipping combat in your favor, but it also allows you to investigate, providing an opportunity to draw a card later on. This can help you keep your hand replenished as the game progresses.

Resource Acceleration: Additionally, Confront the Unknown can contribute to resource acceleration. Although it doesn’t produce mana directly, it generates a Clue artifact that can be sacrificed for card draw. Keeping the flow of resources consistent is crucial, especially in decks that thrive on having a variety of options available at any given time.

Instant Speed: Confront the Unknown’s instant speed capability offers flexibility and surprise, factors critical in game-changing moments. You’re able to use your mana efficiently, cast spells during your opponent’s turn, and keep up the element of surprise, which can be instrumental in disrupting your opponent’s strategy and maintaining control over the game state.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Unlike some instants that offer pure benefit, Confront the Unknown requires you to discard another card for its Investigate mechanic to shine. This trade-off means sacrificing a potentially valuable card in hand, which can be a significant downside when hand size is crucial.

Specific Mana Cost: Confront the Unknown’s mana cost is specific to green, necessitating a commitment to that color in your deck’s mana base. This specificity can hinder deck-building flexibility, especially in multicolored formats where having diverse mana sources is key.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although the card is cheap at a single green mana, the benefit it provides is often outclassed by other cards at similar costs. For players looking to optimize their deck’s efficiency, there may be better options for creature boosting or card draw, making Confront the Unknown less appealing in highly competitive settings.

Reasons to Include Confront the Unknown in Your Collection

Versatility: Confront the Unknown is a card that shines in its adaptability. It can be included in a wide range of green decks that benefit from combat tricks or investigate mechanics. The ability to boost a creature’s power and toughness while getting to draw a card later on makes it a useful tool in various situations.

Combo Potential: With a knack for synergizing, Confront the Unknown can work wonders in decks that capitalize on clue tokens. It can power up Tireless Trackers, enable delirium, or feed artifact synergies, creating unexpected and valuable interactions on the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: As player decks evolve, having low-cost, flexible spells can be crucial. Confront the Unknown adjusts well to fast-paced games, offering a surprise element that can turn the tides by making creatures harder to kill in combat or enabling crucial card draws for your strategy.

How to beat

Confront the Unknown is a unique spell in Magic: The Gathering that can catch players off guard. It’s primarily used in decks that amass a high number of clues to suddenly increase a creature’s power and toughness unexpectedly during combat. Overcoming this card involves anticipating this surprise boost and being prepared to mitigate it.

Counterspells are a straightforward solution, preventing Confront the Unknown from resolving in the first place. Control strategies can also manage the number of clues on the battlefield, thus limiting the card’s impact. Removal spells that can target creatures at instant speed are equally effective, allowing you to react after your opponent has played Confront the Unknown but before the combat damage step.

An insightful look into the dynamics of combat interactions reveals that timing is critical against Confront the Unknown. By maintaining flexibility in your mana and spell choices, and by understanding when to apply pressure or hold back for a defensive play, players can navigate around the potential pitfalls of this card and keep the battlefield under control.

Cards like Confront the Unknown

Confront the Unknown is an intriguing instant card in Magic: The Gathering that finds its niche within the spectrum of combat tricks. It’s quite akin to Giant Growth, a well-known card that provides a creature with a sudden boost to its power and toughness. Confront the Unknown, however, introduces a clue-centric dynamic; it not only increases a creature’s power and toughness but does so based on the number of clue tokens in play, potentially surpassing the fixed bonus Giant Growth offers.

Other parallels can be drawn with cards like Bioshift which, like Confront the Unknown, focus on the versatility during combat phases, albeit through the transfer of +1/+1 counters rather than a dependence on clue tokens. Similarly, Strength of Arms also provides a +2/+2 boost with an added equipment synergy instead of clue interaction. However, it lacks the scalable potential that Confront the Unknown could unleash in a deck rich with clues.

Ultimately, Confront the Unknown presents itself as a compelling choice for players who appreciate the synergy with clue mechanics, offering an element of surprise that can tip combat outcomes in their favor. Its potential for sizable power increase, contingent upon a specific board state, marks it as a card with significant scalability in Magic: The Gathering.

Cards similar to Confront the Unknown by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Confront the Unknown MTG card by a specific set like Shadows over Innistrad and Shadows over Innistrad Remastered, 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 Confront the Unknown and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Confront the Unknown Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2016-04-08 and 2023-03-21. Illustrated by Kev Walker.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2016-04-08	Shadows over Innistrad	SOI		198	2015	Normal	Black	Kev Walker
2	2023-03-21	Shadows over Innistrad Remastered	SIR		190	2015	Normal	Black	Kev Walker

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Confront the Unknown has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2016-04-08	If you sacrifice a Clue for another card’s cost or effect, such as that of Angelic Purge or Tamiyo’s Journal, you can’t also pay and sacrifice it to draw a card.
2016-04-08	No player may take any action in between the two steps of Confront the Unknown, so the target creature will get at least +1/+1.
2016-04-08	The token is named Clue and has the artifact subtype Clue. Clue isn’t a creature type.
2016-04-08	The tokens are normal artifacts. For example, they can be sacrificed to cast Angelic Purge or targeted by Root Out.
2016-04-08	You can’t cast a spell without choosing legal targets. If all of those targets become illegal, the spell doesn’t resolve and you won’t investigate.