Test of CourageHow it works & interactions with other cards

Choosing Your Path

As you cast Test of Courage, you must choose one of its two modes. The first mode, Alter the Past, targets a single card in any graveyard to be exiled and grants you 2 life. The second mode, Obliterate the Transwarp Network, targets an artifact or enchantment on the battlefield, provided its mana value is 3 or less. You cannot change your mind about the mode once the spell has been cast.

Step-by-Step Resolution

First, announce the spell and choose your mode. If you choose the first mode, select a target card in a graveyard; if you choose the second, select a legal artifact or enchantment. Pay the single green mana. Upon resolution, the game checks if the target is still legal. If the target card is no longer in the graveyard or the permanent has left the battlefield (or gained hexproof), the entire spell fails to resolve and you do not gain life or destroy anything.

Common Pitfalls

A common mistake is trying to destroy a permanent with a mana value of 4 or higher; Test of Courage will not be able to target such a permanent. Additionally, remember that the life gain is tied to the first mode only. If you destroy an artifact using the second mode, you do not gain any life. Because it is an instant, you can use it in response to graveyard recursion or right before your turn to clear an enchantment.

When to Cast

Cast Test of Courage when your opponent attempts to reanimate a powerful creature or when a low-cost utility artifact like a mana rock is slowing you down. It is also an excellent response to players trying to use their graveyard as a resource. Since it costs only one green mana, it is easy to keep mana open for this spell while still developing your board state.

Interaction examples

Defensive Maneuvers

Heroic Intervention

If you cast Test of Courage targeting an opponent's artifact, they may respond with Heroic Intervention. Since Heroic Intervention gives their permanents hexproof, Test of Courage will lose its only target and fail to resolve. The artifact will remain on the battlefield.

Strategic Top-Decking

Worldly Tutor

During your opponent's end step, you can cast Worldly Tutor to put a creature on top of your library. If your opponent then attempts to use an effect to exile that card from your library or graveyard later, you can use Test of Courage to manage other threats or gain life to ensure you survive long enough to draw your tutored creature.

Graveyard Denial

If an opponent targets a card in their graveyard with a recursion spell, you can cast Test of Courage in response using the 'Alter the Past' mode. By exiling the card first, the opponent's spell will lose its target and fail to resolve, and you will gain 2 life in the process.