Gonti's Machinations is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
Whenever you lose life for the first time each turn, you get. (You get an energy counter. Damage causes loss of life.) Pay
Complete guide
Gonti's Machinations is a low-cost black enchantment that turns your pain into progress by generating energy counters. Whether you are dealing with self-inflicted life loss or pressure from an opponent, this card provides a steady resource and a potentially game-ending drain effect.
Generating and Spending Energy
The first ability of Gonti's Machinations triggers whenever you lose life for the first time each turn. This includes damage dealt to you, as damage causes loss of life. Note that in multiplayer games like Two-Headed Giant, the ability only triggers if you specifically lose life, even though your teammate's life loss affects the shared total. Once you have accumulated at least two energy counters, you can activate the second ability at any time you could cast an instant. This requires paying two energy counters and sacrificing the enchantment itself to drain life from your opponents.
Resolution Step by Step
Step 1: You lose life through a spell, ability, or damage. If this is the first time this turn, the triggered ability goes on the stack. Step 2: The triggered ability resolves, and you receive one energy counter ({E}). Step 3: To activate the second ability, you pay the cost of {E}{E} and sacrifice Gonti's Machinations. This goes on the stack. Step 4: As the ability resolves, each opponent loses 3 life. You then gain life equal to the total life lost this way. In a standard duel, you gain 3 life; in a four-player game, you could gain up to 9 life.
Common Mistakes
A common misconception is that losing life multiple times in one turn will grant multiple energy counters; however, the ability only triggers for the first instance of life loss each turn. Additionally, remember that energy counters are not mana. They do not disappear when phases or turns end. You must also remember that the life gain is tied to the actual life lost by opponents; if an opponent has a protection effect that prevents the life loss, you will not gain life from that specific player.
When to Play It
Gonti's Machinations is best utilized in decks that use life as a resource, such as those featuring 'pain lands' or spells with life costs. Because it only costs one black mana, it can be deployed early to maximize the number of turns it can generate energy. It is also an excellent finisher in aggressive decks to bypass blockers by dealing direct damage to the opponent's life total.
Interaction examples
On your turn, you play a land that requires you to pay 1 life to enter untapped. Since this is the first time you lost life this turn, Gonti's Machinations triggers, and you get one energy counter ({E}) which you can track using dice or a card like Energy Reserve.
Urza's SagaIf you have Gonti's Machinations on the battlefield and your Urza's Saga reaches its third chapter, you can search for a 0 or 1 mana artifact. While Gonti's Machinations is an enchantment, it does not count as an artifact for the Construct token created by Urza's Saga's second ability, but the energy it provides is kept separately on your player profile.
Animate DeadWhen you cast Animate Dead to bring a creature back, you don't naturally lose life from the enchantment itself. However, if the creature you bring back has an ability that costs life to activate, that activation will trigger Gonti's Machinations for the first time that turn, granting you an energy counter.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Gonti's Machinations
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
Some spells and abilities that give you
may require targets. If each target chosen is an illegal target as that spell or ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve. You won't get any .No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
Energy counters are a kind of counter that a player may have. They're not associated with any specific permanents.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
Keep track of how many energy counters each player has. Potential ways to track this include writing theme down on paper or using dice, but any method that is clear and mutually agreeable is fine. (At higher levels of tournament play, dice may not be allowed for tracking counters that players have.)
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
If an effect says you get one or more
, you get that many energy counters. To pay one or more , you lose that many energy counters. You can't pay more energy counters than you have. Any effects that interact with counters a player gets, has, or loses can interact with energy counters.No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
Energy counters aren't mana. They don't go away as steps, phases, and turns end, and effects that add mana "of any type" can't give you energy counters.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #6· Wizards of the Coast
Some triggered abilities state that you "may pay" a certain amount of
. You can't pay that amount multiple times to multiply the effect. You simply choose whether or not to pay that amount of as the ability resolves.No other card is named in this ruling.
- #7· Wizards of the Coast
Some triggered abilities that state that you "may pay" a certain amount of
describe an effect that happens "If you do." In that case, no player may take actions to try to stop the ability's effect after you make your choice. If the payment is followed by the phrase "When you do," then you'll choose any targets for that reflexive triggered ability and put it on the stack before players can take actions.No other card is named in this ruling.
- #8· Wizards of the Coast
If a spell or ability with one or more targets states that you "may pay" some amount of
, and each permanent that it targets has become an illegal target, the spell or ability won't resolve. You can't pay any even if you want to.No other card is named in this ruling.
- #9· Wizards of the Coast is the energy symbol. It represents one energy counter.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #10· Wizards of the Coast
In a Two-Headed Giant game, Gonti's Machinations's second ability causes the opposing team to lose a total of 6 life.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #11· Wizards of the Coast
The triggered ability gives you at most one energy counter each turn, regardless of how much life you lost.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #12· Wizards of the Coast
In a Two-Headed Giant game, damage and life loss happen to individual players, and the result affects the team's life total. Combat damage is assigned and dealt to specific players. If your teammate is dealt damage or otherwise loses life, Gonti's Machinations doesn't trigger, even though your life total went down.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Related cards and tokens
Legal formats
Commentaires
- Sois le premier à commenter cette carte.
Read next
Meta decks with Gonti's Machinations
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.