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Mage Duel

Mage Duel

Sorcery

common

This spell costs less to cast if you've cast another instant or sorcery spell this turn. Target creature you control gets +1/+2 until end of turn. Then it fights target creature you don't control. (Each deals damage equal to its power to the other.)

$0.10 ✦ $0.16View on Scryfall →

Semantic Tags

Cost Reductionmechanical

A permanent or effect that makes spells or abilities cheaper to cast or activate.

Power Mattersmechanical

Cares about power of creatures — Fling effects, power-based draw, Xenagos strategies.

Pumpmechanical

A spell or ability that gives a temporary power/toughness boost.

Stormmechanical

A keyword ability that creates copies of a spell. See rule 702.40, “Storm.”

Storm Thememechanical

Storm count strategies — casting many spells in a single turn for storm triggers.

Tribalmechanical

Cares about creature types — lords, type-matters effects, and changeling.

Format Legality

commanderlegal
oathbreakerlegal
modernlegal
pioneerlegal
standardnot legal
legacylegal
vintagelegal
pauperlegal
historiclegal
explorernot legal
alchemynot legal

Price history

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Printings (1)

SetRarityTCGplayerCard KingdomCardmarket
Strixhaven: School of Mages#137common···

Related Concepts

Fight

When two creatures fight, each deals damage equal to its power to the other. See rule 701.14, “Fight.”

Related Rules

206.3c

One card (Apocalypse Chime) refers to permanents with a name originally printed in the Homelands™ expansion. Those names are Abbey Gargoyles; Abbey Matron; Aether Storm; Aliban’s Tower; Ambush; Ambush Party; Anaba Ancestor; Anaba Bodyguard; Anaba Shaman; Anaba Spirit Crafter; An-Havva Constable; An-Havva Inn; An-Havva Township; An-Zerrin Ruins; Apocalypse Chime; Autumn Willow; Aysen Abbey; Aysen Bureaucrats; Aysen Crusader; Aysen Highway; Baki’s Curse; Baron Sengir; Beast Walkers; Black Carriage; Broken Visage; Carapace; Castle Sengir; Cemetery Gate; Chain Stasis; Chandler; Clockwork Gnomes; Clockwork Steed; Clockwork Swarm; Coral Reef; Dark Maze; Daughter of Autumn; Death Speakers; Didgeridoo; Drudge Spell; Dry Spell; Dwarven Pony; Dwarven Sea Clan; Dwarven Trader; Ebony Rhino; Eron the Relentless; Evaporate; Faerie Noble; Feast of the Unicorn; Feroz’s Ban; Folk of An-Havva; Forget; Funeral March; Ghost Hounds; Giant Albatross; Giant Oyster; Grandmother Sengir; Greater Werewolf; Hazduhr the Abbot; Headstone; Heart Wolf; Hungry Mist; Ihsan’s Shade; Irini Sengir; Ironclaw Curse; Jinx; Joven; Joven’s Ferrets; Joven’s Tools; Koskun Falls; Koskun Keep; Labyrinth Minotaur; Leaping Lizard; Leeches; Mammoth Harness; Marjhan; Memory Lapse; Merchant Scroll; Mesa Falcon; Mystic Decree; Narwhal; Orcish Mine; Primal Order; Prophecy; Rashka the Slayer; Reef Pirates; Renewal; Retribution; Reveka, Wizard Savant; Root Spider; Roots; Roterothopter; Rysorian Badger; Samite Alchemist; Sea Sprite; Sea Troll; Sengir Autocrat; Sengir Bats; Serra Aviary; Serra Bestiary; Serra Inquisitors; Serra Paladin; Serrated Arrows; Shrink; Soraya the Falconer; Spectral Bears; Timmerian Fiends; Torture; Trade Caravan; Truce; Veldrane of Sengir; Wall of Kelp; Willow Faerie; Willow Priestess; Winter Sky; and Wizards’ School.

702.40a

Storm is a triggered ability that functions on the stack. “Storm” means “When you cast this spell, copy it for each other spell that was cast before it this turn. If the spell has any targets, you may choose new targets for any of the copies.”

702.40

Storm

701.14

Fight

701.14a

A spell or ability may instruct a creature to fight another creature or it may instruct two creatures to fight each other. Each of those creatures deals damage equal to its power to the other creature.

701.14b

If one or both creatures instructed to fight are no longer on the battlefield or are no longer creatures, neither of them fights or deals damage. If one or both creatures are illegal targets for a resolving spell or ability that instructs them to fight, neither of them fights or deals damage.

702.40b

If a spell has multiple instances of storm, each triggers separately.

702.103d

When casting a spell bestowed, only its characteristics as modified by the bestow ability are evaluated to determine if it can be cast.

Rulings

2021-04-16

To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you’re paying, add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions (such as that of Mage Duel). Mage Duel’s mana value is always 3, no matter what the total cost to cast it was.

2021-04-16

If the creature you control is an illegal target as Mage Duel tries to resolve, that creature won’t get +1/+2. If that creature is a legal target, but the one you don’t control isn’t, your creature will still get +1/+2. In both cases, no fight will happen and no creature will deal or be dealt damage.

2021-04-16

You can’t cast Mage Duel unless you choose both a creature you control and a creature you don’t control as targets.