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Brilliant Ultimatum

Brilliant Ultimatum

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Shards of Alara

#159 · EN · Rare · 2008-10-03

Browse all 1 printings ↓

Brilliant Ultimatum

{W}{W}{U}{U}{U}{B}{B}

Sorcery

Exile the top five cards of your library. An opponent separates those cards into two piles. You may play lands and cast spells from one of those piles. If you cast a spell this way, you cast it without paying its mana cost.

Artist: Anthony Francisco

Color identity: B, U, W

Reference prices

Reference prices by finish and currency
FinishUSDEUR
Nonfoil$1.31€0.75
Foil$8.56€2.29

MTGO: 0.02 tix

Data snapshot 2026-10-22. Not live offers.

Use in a combo · Use in a deck

Editions & versions

1 printings across 1 edition. Choose a printing to view its artwork and details.

Reference prices · Data snapshot 2026-10-22. Prices vary by seller and condition; — means no quote.

Combos using this card

No combos yet.

Format legality
Standardnot legal
Futurenot legal
Historicnot legal
Timelessnot legal
Gladiatornot legal
Pioneernot legal
Modernlegal
Legacylegal
Paupernot legal
Vintagelegal
Pennylegal
Commanderlegal
Oathbreakerlegal
Standardbrawlnot legal
Brawlnot legal
Competitivebrawlnot legal
Alchemynot legal
Paupercommandernot legal
Duellegal
Oldschoolnot legal
Premodernnot legal
Predhlegal
Tlrnot legal
Rulings

2008-10-01 If you cast a card “without paying its mana cost,” you can’t pay any alternative costs. You can pay additional costs, such as conspire costs and kicker costs.

2008-10-01 One of the piles may have zero cards in it if the opponent wishes.

2008-10-01 The cards are exiled face up.

2008-10-01 The cards in the pile that wasn’t chosen remain exiled. Likewise, any cards in the chosen pile that you can’t play or you choose not to play remain exiled.

2008-10-01 You can play a land card from the chosen pile only if it’s your turn (which it probably is, since Brilliant Ultimatum is a sorcery) and you haven’t yet played a land this turn. That means that if there are two lands in the chosen pile, you’ll be able to play a maximum of one of them.

2008-10-01 You play cards from the chosen pile as part of the resolution of Brilliant Ultimatum. You may play them in any order. Timing restrictions based on the card’s type (such as creature or sorcery) are ignored. Other play restrictions are not (such as “Cast [this card] only during combat”). You play all of the cards you like, putting land onto the battlefield and spells on the stack, then Brilliant Ultimatum finishes resolving and is put into your graveyard. The spells you cast this way will then resolve as normal, one at a time, in the opposite order that they were put on the stack.

Current Oracle text is shown for every printing.


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