Pointed Discussion

Magic: The Gathering Card Comments Archive

Psychic Possession

Multiverse ID: 107254

Psychic Possession

Comments (30)

mtmills
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0) (3 votes)
Megrimage
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0) (1 vote)
yeah i noticed that about mana vault, i wonder why wizards changed what the card does because on all prints of the real card it says the 1 damage happens at the end of upkeep.
mangadan
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0) (1 vote)
Just watch out for necropotence :)
Ritius
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0) (5 votes)
Makes a pretty combo with Teferi's Puzzle Box and Underworld Dreams. Fun combo card, not good straight, like so many of the best cards in magic.
Kurhan
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0) (1 vote)
Since its not stated, this is a very effective card if you know your opponent plays with a deck that draws alot of cards. I don't own this but there are many times I wish I did. One of my friends I play with usually plays a blue counter / discard your library deck that draws ridiculous amounts of cards. I've seen him with over 40 cards in hand during one of our group games.
majinara
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0) (3 votes)
- Fun with Shah of Naar Isle and all effects that read "each player draws X cards".
- also fun if you and your opponent have this card both in play :)
- also fun: every possession after the first has no drawback. you skip your draw anyway, so they really shine in multiples. or combine them with other "skip your draw step" cards.
Buridan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
could be an interessting situation if you and your opponent have one out
Paleopaladin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
VERY under-rated. The fact that multiple copies stack makes it epic. 4.5/5 easily.

Run with Cephalid Looter and with other great combos mentioned here.
DerStrudelkopf
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This, Forced Fruition, and Niv-Mezzet = 7 damage to someone/something every time your opponent plays a spell. Toss in Thought Reflection and it's 14. Since you're running red already, drop a Furnace of Rath for 28 damage every time they play a spell.

And since this says "may", you won't mill yourself doing this.
Name_Lable47
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0) (1 vote)
Wistful thinking would be an awesome combo with this card no one mentioned, ya feel me?
Harleau
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
With more than one, talk about abuse with Psychosis Crawler,Whirlpool Rider and Whirlpool Warrior. Draw to kill EVERYONE! And it is possible to deal 40-50+ damage EVERY TURN. Lifegainers can't quite keep up with that.

And some of the best abuse comes with Prosperity.
leomistico
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Funny card! Change totally the way to play the game, as soon as it hits the field. Combo enabler, but even as a draw deterrent it does its job (Sort of Chains of Mephistopheles or Underworld Dreams)!

4/5
sonorhC
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
They changed Mana Vault to "beginning of draw" because the game rules don't recognize "end of upkeep" any more.
SirZapdos
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0) (1 vote)
With the release of Innistrad, would this card now be considered a curse?
ax_morph
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0) (1 vote)
At first I thought this was opponent so you couldn't Donate it and have them skip their draw step.

Then I realized enchanting yourself would mean infinite draw.
madmonty
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0) (1 vote)
Derp Derp commander and multi anyone?
ScissorsLizard
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0) (3 votes)
Someone once tried to Browbeat me with this in play. I must say, it made the decision much easier ;)
hellrider14
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
just wondered now that they have curse cards in dark ascension and innistrad if this is now considered a curse card as well specifically to be used with curse of misfortunes
cybishop
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"just wondered now that they have curse cards in dark ascension and innistrad if this is now considered a curse card as well specifically to be used with curse of misfortunes"

No, it's not. They didn't errata it to be a Curse, so it's not a Curse. They don't generally errata things like that. Even if it would make sense for this to be a Curse as that mechanic is designed, they don't like to errata things unless it actually doesn't work at all.

Also, all Curses say "enchant player", just in case you want to cast Curse of the Bloody Tome on yourself, but this says "enchant opponent", because it would break the game if you could cast it on yourself.
ItsHarvestTime
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0) (1 vote)
So, due to the ruling that this will fall off of a player who both controls and is enchanted by Psychic Possession as a state based action, and due to the fact that state based actions are checked only when the stack is empty, you can use Leyline of Anticipation, Donate, and any draw spell that can make your opponent draw (let's say Ancestral Recall) to force your opponent to draw out.

Step 1:Control both Leyline of Anticipation and Psychic Possession.
Step 2: Cast Ancestral Recall targeting your opponent.
Step 3: Respond to Ancestral Recall with Donate.
Stack resolves. Opponent draws out.

Then again its possible that this doesn't work due to the fact that it says "Whenever enchanted opponent draws a card"...
Continue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Oh, is that a Notion Thief on your side? Have I got a nasty surprise for you...
raptorman333
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
wtf with your opponent's Consecrated Sphinx?! "I guess we'll just draw out our decks?"

also, Prosperity
Antsache
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ItsHarvestTime

There seem to be a couple really big flaws with that interpretation.

First off, State-Based Actions are absolutely checked while things are on the stack. If they weren't, stacking a lighting bolt that reduces your opponent to zero on top of their lifegain spell would result in them surviving, which of course isn't how the game works. State-based actions are checked any time a player would gain priority, which occurs at least every time a spell resolves. So Possession drops off your opponent and into your graveyard immediately after Donate resolves. It doesn't stick around to see the card draws from Ancestral Recall, so it actually does nothing in this scenario.

But even then, I'm not entirely sure how you think the "forced draw out" is supposed to happen regardless of whether Possession stays on the board or not. Assuming state-based actions somehow aren't checked, if you donate Possession to your opponent then they're still enchanted and now the "draw a card" ability is affecting them. But it's a "you MAY draw" ability, so even ignoring the contradictory "whenever enchanted opponent draws..." text, unless they want to they're not going to deck themselves. Instead all you've done is give them permission to draw as many, or as few cards as they want (with the exception of the three from Ancestral Recall, which aren't optional).


@raptorman333

Both cards (as in Possession and Sphinx) have a "may" clause in their texts, so it's unlikely that either player will end up drawing out. Even if one of you wants to because you're playing self-mill or whatever, the other player should be smart enough to realize that if they just stop accepting their optional draws they'll stop pushing you closer to your win condition.