Completely wrecks opponents - especially combo decks. Imagine a storm combo player about to get their Lotus Bloom to resolve, with like, a hand with Rite of Flames, Manamorphoses, Seething Songs, all that jazz. And suddenly, HEAD GAMES. Replace all that stuff with like mountains, and unusable stuff. Your opponent cries.
Ajani_is_da_man
★☆☆☆☆ (1.4/5.0)(5 votes)
wtf?
Ritius
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Hmmmm.... with Mind Funeral, you can give your opponent a handful of lands. But at five mana, maybe just a bit too late.
Coincidence
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(3 votes)
Bomb in multiplayer, especially EDH. The more targets, the better.
CatsAreCthala
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Cool card. What pun?
ClockworkSwordfish
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
TILL I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMOOOORE!
Revan312
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(5 votes)
I've played with head games extensively and although people's first impulse, including mine, is to fill their hand with land, I've found it depends on at what point the game is at.. If early game filling their hand with their most expensive cards is the most profitable, late game then land is the most efficient.
Bottom line though, if you find a way either through dark rituals, lotus or otherwise to pull this off on turn 1-3 you pretty much win unless you end up with an absolutely terrible series of draws..
5/5 for the utter destruction it causes no matter when it's played, as long as they have a hand..
Blackshayde
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(4 votes)
This card is slightly overrated. It just costs too much and by the time you can cast it, it won't be that effective. It is best used to put huge creatures in the opposing player's hand on turn 5, but that could be a mixed blessing. Giving your opponent all lands is a bad move.
ratrase
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(3 votes)
No reason to play this over mind sludge unless you play a second color, but with the BB in the cost that might be hard. Anyway, by the time you play this they will most likely have played out most of their hand and you're better of playing a regular discard spell (unless you are up to some mindslaver shenanigans).
OmegaSerris
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Poor Minotaurs. Always taking shit from WotC R&D. Then one day, Lord of Shatterskull Pass stood up and said "NO MORE!" Now, in M12, Gorehorn Minotaurs are joining the uprising.
TheGoodDoctor20
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
So I hear you like lands...
SgtSwaggr
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Everybody is complaining that this cost to much. Did we forget that black has Dark Ritual?
Mr.Wimples
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
Like this in bigger games. Cripple the player ahead, or gain an ally if need be.
Salient
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I finally draw some cool stuff, and my blasted opponent fills my hand with fetchlands I don't need? Ugh. Some days it's like I just can't get ahead.
You play Mindlock turn 4 then turn 5 you Head Games them. They have to put their hand on top of their library, however, due to Orb's effect, you can't search their library to give them a new hand, so they have to shuffle their hand away.
head games mindlock orb sounds fun but then you might as well be using whispering madness or something similar and notion thief
Enelysios
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is a fun card, but it struggles to find a place. If it was cheaper it would have been a risky move by R&D. Though would have been a much better cost I think. As it stands it can be a fun card in very casual games, but is far outclassed by mediocre spells like Mind Sludge or even Wit's End. Mass discard spells aren't very good, the only time they will come in handy is when your opponent has a significant hand late game. This is usually against a control deck, which makes casting a big spell like this dangerous, an opponent with a counterspell has no reason not to use it against this.
Most people here stated they would fill their opponent's hand with land. That is honestly your best option since a well made deck uses every card pretty well. Still, how bad is a hand of just land? Compared to a normal discard spell, you have given your opponent 3-4 turns of guaranteed land drops and made them less likely to draw land on subsequent turns. Their hand is almost certainly worse than what they had, but you also spent a card and 5 mana to do that.
Okay, so the card isn't amazing. But why has no one mentioned how awesome the art is?! The guy is putting a bull's head on a dead dude. Or maybe taking the head off a minotaur. Either way, going straight into my cool art collection! :D
SirLibraryEater
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
So gift them a Necropotence with Bazaar Trader, allow them to draw a buttload of cards, then Quicken this out on their turn and search their library for all their lands. The next turn, mill them out with Mind Funeral. Sure, it's a 5-card combo, but it's a really funny 5-card combo.
Tiggurix
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of the few opportunities for Black to be nice.
casual_melvin
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
For real head games; Play this, look carefully at each card in their library, then give them back the exact same hand they started with.
Note that while this does only target an opponent, not all opponents are equally opposed. Yes, you could use this to fill an opponents with marginal or uncastable cards, but you could also give an opponent exactly what they need to take down a third player, turning a game where neither of you would win into one where the two of you have a shot.
Even if your worried about them backstabbing you it's often possible to find cards in their deck which hurt a 3rd player but don't hurt you. Ie. find them a dead ringers, or an anarchy
blurrymadness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Depends on your opponents deck. I think a handful of utility creatures can be just as beneficial. In multiplayer that may mean you load them up with the answers to all of the things you don't like; leaving them with a battlefield of 2/2s to trample over while looking like the good guy.
Comments (28)
Imagine a storm combo player about to get their Lotus Bloom to resolve, with like, a hand with Rite of Flames, Manamorphoses, Seething Songs, all that jazz. And suddenly, HEAD GAMES. Replace all that stuff with like mountains, and unusable stuff. Your opponent cries.
Bottom line though, if you find a way either through dark rituals, lotus or otherwise to pull this off on turn 1-3 you pretty much win unless you end up with an absolutely terrible series of draws..
5/5 for the utter destruction it causes no matter when it's played, as long as they have a hand..
You play Mindlock turn 4 then turn 5 you Head Games them. They have to put their hand on top of their library, however, due to Orb's effect, you can't search their library to give them a new hand, so they have to shuffle their hand away.
"Okay then. I top deck and play Borborygmos Enraged."
"Wait what?"
"You done goofed."
Most people here stated they would fill their opponent's hand with land. That is honestly your best option since a well made deck uses every card pretty well. Still, how bad is a hand of just land? Compared to a normal discard spell, you have given your opponent 3-4 turns of guaranteed land drops and made them less likely to draw land on subsequent turns. Their hand is almost certainly worse than what they had, but you also spent a card and 5 mana to do that.
Sure, it's a 5-card combo, but it's a really funny 5-card combo.
Play this, look carefully at each card in their library, then give them back the exact same hand they started with.
Note that while this does only target an opponent, not all opponents are equally opposed. Yes, you could use this to fill an opponents with marginal or uncastable cards, but you could also give an opponent exactly what they need to take down a third player, turning a game where neither of you would win into one where the two of you have a shot.
Even if your worried about them backstabbing you it's often possible to find cards in their deck which hurt a 3rd player but don't hurt you. Ie. find them a dead ringers, or an anarchy