Painful Quandary
Painful Quandary: Enchantment, Foundations. Whenever an opponent casts a spell, that player loses 5 life unless they discard a card. On Mana Grove.
- Mana cost
- {3}{B}{B}
- Mana value
- 5
- Type
- Enchantment
- Colour identity
- Black (B)
- Rarity
- Rare
- Set
- Foundations (FDN)
- Released
- 2024-11-15
- Collector number
- 179
- Artist
- David Palumbo
- Commander rank
- 1,188 (by how often it appears in Commander decks)
Build around this card with Grover
About Painful Quandary
Painful Quandary is a Magic: The Gathering card, a rare black enchantment from Foundations (FDN), a core set released in November 2024. It is collector number 179 in that set, with art by David Palumbo. It costs {3}{B}{B} (three generic and two black mana) to cast, for a mana value of 5. Its colour identity is black. It is legal in Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, PreDH, Brawl, Standard Brawl, Historic, Timeless, Alchemy, Gladiator and Penny Dreadful. It has been printed in 6 sets, from Scars of Mirrodin (2010) to Foundations (2024). The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $1.70 (normal finish, as of 2026-11-03).
Card text
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, that player loses 5 life unless they discard a card.
In Mishra's desperation to destroy his brother, he allowed Gix to destroy him instead.
Market price
Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $1.70 (as of 2026-11-03).
The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.
Format legality
Legality of Painful Quandary by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.
| Standard | Legal |
|---|---|
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| PreDH | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Standard Brawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
| Alchemy | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Penny Dreadful | Legal |
Other printings of Painful Quandary
Painful Quandary has been printed in 6 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.
| Printing | Rarity | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Magic Online Promos (PRM) #105716 | Rare | 2025 |
| Foundations Promos (PFDN) #179s | Rare | 2024 |
| The Brothers' War (BRO) #111 | Rare | 2022 |
| The Brothers' War (BRO) #331 | Rare | 2022 |
| The Brothers' War Promos (PBRO) #111p | Rare | 2022 |
| The Brothers' War Promos (PBRO) #111s | Rare | 2022 |
| Scars of Mirrodin (SOM) #73 | Rare | 2010 |
Official rulings
Two official rulings apply to Painful Quandary, newest first.
- 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.
Similar cards
Other enchantment cards with a black colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.