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Moxonomy

Swat Away

Instant2 generic manaBlue manaBlue mana

The clause that drops this to two mana when a creature is attacking you inverts the usual bounce economics: tempo answers normally reward the player who is already ahead, but this one hands its best rate to the player under pressure. That reversal is the whole design idea. Cast at full price it is a flexible if slightly overcosted answer to a spell on the stack or a creature on the board; cast for Blue manaBlue mana in response to an attack, it becomes a cheap tempo swing that removes the aggressor's threat and forces a recast. What separates it from a plain return-to-hand effect is that the target's owner chooses top or bottom of their library rather than returning it to hand, which strips a card off the board without the redraw that hand-bounce grants. The choice belongs to the opponent, though, so a threat they want back goes on top and comes right off the draw; the placement bites hardest against something they would rather not see again, where bottom-of-library is the only sensible line. Targeting a spell or a creature on the same card widens the window: it can undo a threat before it lands or reset one after, at instant speed either way. The structural cleverness is tying the discount to being attacked, turning a reactive card into an incentive to let the aggressor commit, then punishing that commitment on the cheap.

Swat Away (ecl)
ECL · #75uncommon
Pricing
Normal: $0.20
Foil: $0.22
Oracle Text

Rules text

This spell costs 2 generic mana less to cast if a creature is attacking you. The owner of target spell or creature puts it on their choice of the top or bottom of their library.
Legalities

Format Status

Standard
Legal
Pioneer
Legal
Modern
Legal
Legacy
Legal
Vintage
Legal
Commander
Legal
Pauper
N/A
Brawl
Legal
Historic
Legal
Alchemy
Legal
Timeless
Legal
Standard Brawl
Legal
More formats
Old School
N/A
Premodern
N/A
PreDH
N/A
Pauper Commander
N/A
Oathbreaker
Legal
Gladiator
Legal
Penny Dreadful
N/A
Duel Commander
Legal
Future Standard
Legal
COMPETITIVEBRAWL
Legal
TLR
N/A
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