Timely Interference 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
Kicker(You may pay an additional
Complete guide
Timely Interference is a versatile blue instant that provides card replacement and tactical utility during combat. By using its optional Kicker cost, you can force a creature to engage in battle, making it a valuable tool for both defense and aggression.
What It Does
At its base, Timely Interference costs one blue mana to give a target creature -1/-0 until end of turn and draw you a card. If you pay the additional Kicker cost of {1}{R}, the spell gains an additional effect: the target creature must block this turn if able. Regardless of whether it is kicked, you always draw a card upon resolution.
Resolving Step by Step
First, choose a target creature as you cast the spell and decide if you are paying the Kicker cost. Upon resolution, the creature receives the power reduction. If the Kicker was paid, a requirement is created for that creature to block during the next available declare blockers step. Finally, you draw a card. If the target becomes illegal before the spell resolves, the entire spell is removed from the stack and none of its effects happen, including the card draw.
Common Mistakes
Players often forget that the Kicker cost does not change the mana value of the spell; it remains 1. Additionally, the 'blocks if able' requirement only works if there is a legal attack for the creature to block. If all attacking creatures have flying and the target creature does not, it cannot fulfill the requirement to block and remains untapped.
When to Play It
Use this during your opponent's turn to shrink an attacker and cycle through your deck. Alternatively, use the Kicker during your own turn before combat to force a specific utility creature your opponent controls to block your large attacker, ensuring that creature is destroyed in combat.
Interaction examples
You cast Timely Interference targeting an opponent's creature for {U}. The creature gets -1/-0, you draw a card, and you have successfully replaced the spell in your hand for just one mana.
CounterspellYou cast a kicked Timely Interference for {1}{U}{R}. Your opponent casts Counterspell targeting it. Because Timely Interference is countered, you do not draw a card, the creature does not lose power, and it is not forced to block.
An Offer You Can't RefuseYou cast Timely Interference for {U}. Your opponent casts An Offer You Can't Refuse to prevent you from drawing a card. Your spell is countered, and while you don't get the -1/-0 effect or the card draw, you do create two Treasure tokens.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Timely Interference
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
If a spell's kicker cost was paid, the spell is "kicked."
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
The kicker ability doesn't let you pay a kicker cost more than once.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
If you put a permanent with a kicker ability onto the battlefield without casting it, you can't kick it.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
If you copy a kicked spell on the stack, the copy is also kicked. If the copied spell is a permanent spell, the token the copy of that spell becomes when it enters is also kicked.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
If a card or token enters as a copy of a permanent, the new permanent isn't kicked, even if the original was.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #6· Wizards of the Coast
To determine a spell's total cost, start with the mana cost (or an alternative cost if another card's effect allows you to pay one instead), add any cost increases (such as kicker), then apply any cost reductions. The spell's mana value remains unchanged, no matter what the total cost to cast it was.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Timely Interference
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