Untimely Malfunction
Untimely Malfunction: Instant, Duskmourn: House of Horror. Choose one - • Destroy target artifact. Printings, prices, and format legality on Mana Grove.
- Mana cost
- {1}{R}
- Mana value
- 2
- Type
- Instant
- Colour identity
- Red (R)
- Rarity
- Uncommon
- Set
- Duskmourn: House of Horror (DSK)
- Released
- 2024-09-27
- Collector number
- 161
- Artist
- Jarel Threat
Build around this card with Grover
About Untimely Malfunction
Untimely Malfunction is a Magic: The Gathering card, an uncommon red instant from Duskmourn: House of Horror (DSK), an expansion set released in September 2024. It is collector number 161 in that set, with art by Jarel Threat. It costs {1}{R} (one generic and one red mana) to cast, for a mana value of 2. Its colour identity is red. It is legal in Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Standard Brawl, Historic, Timeless, Alchemy and Gladiator. It has been printed in 2 sets, from The List (2020) to Duskmourn: House of Horror (2024). The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $8.94 (normal finish, as of 2026-10-23).
Card text
Choose one -
• Destroy target artifact.
• Change the target of target spell or ability with a single target.
• One or two target creatures can't block this turn.
"No! This worked perfectly in the lab!"
Market price
Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $8.94 (as of 2026-10-23).
The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.
Format legality
Legality of Untimely Malfunction 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 |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Standard Brawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
| Alchemy | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
Other printings of Untimely Malfunction
Untimely Malfunction has been printed in 2 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.
| Printing | Rarity | Year |
|---|---|---|
| The List (PLST) #DSK-161 | Uncommon | 2026 |
Official rulings
Three official rulings apply to Untimely Malfunction, newest first.
- The effect of Untimely Malfunction's last mode won't cause creatures that are already blocking to stop blocking.
- You don't choose the new target for the spell or ability targeted with Untimely Malfunction's second mode until Untimely Malfunction resolves. You must change the target if possible. However, you can't change the target to an illegal target. If there are no legal targets to choose from, the target isn't changed. It doesn't matter if the original target has somehow become illegal itself.
- If a spell or ability targets multiple things, you can't target it with Untimely Malfunction's second mode, even if all but one of those targets have become illegal.
Similar cards
Other instant cards with a red colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.