First printed in Scars of Mirrodin (2010)
All 8 prints
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Magic Online Promos (PRM) #105716, 2025 (digital)
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Foundations (FDN) #179, 2024
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Foundations Promos (PFDN) #179s, 2024
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The Brothers' War (BRO) #111, 2022
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The Brothers' War (BRO) #331, 2022
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The Brothers' War Promos (PBRO) #111p, 2022
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The Brothers' War Promos (PBRO) #111s, 2022
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Scars of Mirrodin (SOM) #73, 2010
Enchantment
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, that player loses 5 life unless they discard a card.
"For each word spoken, one forgotten. For each thought, a memory rotten."
—Moriok incantation
- Illustrated by
- Whit Brachna
- Watermark
- Mirran
Legality
- Legal in
- Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Future Standard, Historic, Timeless, Alchemy, Penny Dreadful, Gladiator, Commander, Duel Commander, PreDH, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Standard Brawl, Competitive Brawl
- Not legal in
- Pauper, Premodern, Old School 93/94, Pauper Commander, Tiny Leaders
Rulings (2)
- Whenever an opponent casts a spell, Painful Quandary's ability triggers and goes on the stack on top of it. It will resolve before the spell does.
- Whenever an opponent casts a spell, Painful Quandary's ability triggers and goes on the stack on top of it. It will resolve before the spell does.
Prices
MTGO price: 0.006 TIX, the cheapest non-foil print (average sell price on GoatBots, 1 Nov 2026).
In Limited on MTG Arena
Win rates in Arena drafts and sealed, retrieved from 17Lands (CC BY 4.0).
| Set | GIH WR | vs set | IWD | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundations (FDN), Premier Draft | 44.8% | -9.8 | -4.5 | 2422 |
- GIH WR
- win rate of the games in which the card was in the opening hand or drawn
- vs set
- points above or below the average win rate of all decks in the set
- IWD
- improvement when drawn: GIH WR minus the win rate when the card stayed in the library
- Games
- games in which the card was seen