Painful Quandary

Enchantment

Whenever an opponent casts a spell, that player loses 5 life unless he or she discards a card.

Discussion (51)

Ender666666 on Volrath Voltron Reanimator

1 week ago

Painful Quandary?

thom-le on Circu, Dimir Lobotomist

3 weeks ago

Nosema You wrote: "Hey, Thank you so much for responding. It was really helpful and I am close to finishing the deck but I REALLY like the idea of the Duskmantle Guildmage and Mindcrank combo. I was wondering whats the best way to trigger that. like the cheapest/easiest way for your opponents to all discard a card? Also do you try to play both at the same time or play 1 and then the other and risk it being destroyed? Thanks again!"

One strategy is to improve the mill technique. If you are playing different Counterspells than Didn't Say Please, Thought Collapse, Psychic Strike could be possible additions. Maybe consider Psychic Corrosion, Memory Erosion or Jace's Erasure, but I think those Enchantments are not in the theme of the deck.. Grisly Spectacle is better as a removal with mill, Jace's Archivist helps also the Notion Thief + Whispering Madness -combo. Pilfered Plans is card draw with mill.. so you have a nice pool of cards to choose from.

Another way is to get the Discard-Theme. Very annoying but also very effective. You still may play Windfall, Dark Deal and all those cards with such an effect. Painful Quandary is awesome but creates hate. A special combo could be High Market + Howltooth Hollow + Mindslicer if you are going deeper and deeper in the theme. Bottomless Pit, Oppression are fantastic cards. Bloodchief Ascension is so good for gaining life in the discard strategy, just think of this one.

In my opinion you play both cards, but you need some Counterspells in your hand. And you should have enough mana available..

RNR_Gaming on

3 weeks ago

So, generally with this commander you want elves and things that benefit from mass discard. Waste Not and Dark Deal would be excellent additions and synergize very well with your commander. I would move Megrim to the mainboard and add Liliana's Caress. Painful Quandary is also a good addition. As for creatures Priest of Titania is one of the strongest elves ever printed and I will always play it in any and all elf decks. Mind Slash and Attrition are also super good with your commander due to the tokens you'll be making.

SideBae on [Primer] Mogis Slaughter House: Murder Made Tasty

1 month ago

Sulfuric Vortex comes to mind... I think it's probably better than Falkenrath Noble. Eidolon of the Great Revel, Harsh Mentor and other such duders also work.

I also think that if you cut a few of the more expensive cards (ex: Kaervek the Merciless, Ward of Bones) for more mana ramp (Rakdos Signet, Talisman of Indulgence...) you can get away with running just around 31 or 32 lands. That'll free up some more slots for low-to-the-ground burn. Overall I think the deck would improve by a lot if you lowered the average CMC to something like 2 or 2.5.

I don't think very highly of Dash Hopes, to be honest. Maybe your experience has been different than mine, but in general people will be perfectly happy to pay 5 life for a significant spell. You're probably better off running something that generates card advantage, like Commune with Lava or Light Up the Stage. Gamble isn't really card advantage, but I think you should run it if only for the selection. Same goes for Faithless Looting.

Wheel of Fortune is amazing, although it's sitting around $100 these days. Reforge the Soul works as a more accessible replacement. Theater of Horrors is worth considering, too.

If you want a discard-style sub-theme (with your Geier Reach Sanitarium, Painful Quandary...) Waste Not can be helpful.

Harvester of Souls works pretty well as a top-end, I think. It gets you cards when your opponents sac guys.

Right. That's all I got. Good luck.

FioraWu on Sygg, River Cutthroat - CEDH

1 month ago

I love this, but I simply don't understand the inclusion of Verity Circle, and the exclusion of Painful Quandary and Words of Waste.

Daedalus19876 on ♫ Feed Me, Seymour ♫ : Kroxa EDH [PRIMER]

1 month ago

DemonDragonJ: Thanks! It's tragic I can't run Phytohydra, but at least I can run Stitcher's Supplier (feed her dead things), Painful Quandary (moral difficulties between fame and the right choice!), and Victimize (what happens to anyone who gets in Seymour's way).

It's a stretch, I know, but still XD

DrukenReaps on Competitive Kids: Is Twilight Prophet ...

1 month ago

dingusdingo I haven't seen an ad nauseum in casual play since high school when the card came out. It is exceedingly rare for casual players to treat their life totals the same way competitive players are willing to do.

That said I have my Divine Decree deck where the win-con is Manabarbs, Twilight Prophet, Spellshock, etc. Casual play does see necropotence on occasion in my meta and a lot of phyrexian arena type effects. People do go from thinking "Painful Quandary is a silly card" to "where is my removal I'm about to get wrecked" when they are not careful.

king-saproling on Let the hate flow through you: esper weird cards

1 month ago

Cool idea! You might like these: Pariah, Perplexing Chimera, Breathstealer's Crypt, Painful Quandary, Koskun Falls, Angel's Trumpet, Uba Mask, Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar, Lunar Force, Kormus Bell, Herald of Leshrac