Saw It ComingHow it works & interactions with other cards

How Foretell Works

Saw It Coming features Foretell, a special action that you can take any time you have priority during your turn. By paying {2} generic mana, you exile the card face down. Because this is a special action and not a spell or ability, your opponents cannot respond to it to discard the card from your hand. You can then cast the spell on any later turn by paying its Foretell cost of {1}{U}.

Resolution and Timing

When you cast Saw It Coming, whether from your hand for {1}{U}{U} or from exile for {1}{U}, it targets a spell on the stack. Upon resolution, the target spell is moved to its owner's graveyard and fails to resolve. Note that you cannot cast a foretold card on the same turn you exiled it; you must wait until at least the next player's turn to utilize the reduced cost.

Common Pitfalls

A frequent mistake is attempting to use other alternative costs when casting Saw It Coming from exile. If you are using the Foretell cost, you cannot use other alternative costs, though mandatory additional costs must still be paid. Additionally, if the game ends or the card leaves exile by other means, you must reveal any face-down foretold cards to all players to ensure they were legal to foretell.

Strategic Deployment

Saw It Coming is best used to represent a threat even when you appear to be tapped out of blue mana. By foretelling it early, you only need to keep two mana open instead of three. This tax on your opponent's psyche is often as valuable as the counterspell itself, as they must play around a hidden card that they know is likely a counter.

Interaction examples

Standard Countering

Counterspell

If you have three mana available, Saw It Coming functions identically to a slightly more expensive Counterspell. You cast it from your hand for {1}{U}{U}, targeting an opponent's spell. The target spell is countered and moved to the graveyard.

Splitting the Cost

Foretell

On Turn 2, you pay {2} to move Saw It Coming to the exile zone using the Foretell mechanic. On Turn 3, your opponent plays a threat. You pay {1}{U} to cast Saw It Coming from exile. You have effectively countered a spell using only two mana on the turn it mattered, having 'banked' the rest of the cost earlier.

Stacking Counters

Arcane Denial

If an opponent attempts to counter your Saw It Coming with an Arcane Denial, you cannot foretell a second Saw It Coming from your hand to counter their Arcane Denial immediately, because a foretold card can only be cast on a later turn. You must either cast the second Saw It Coming for its full cost of {1}{U}{U} or lose the original spell.