“The fearful want the procedure before a blood festival. The guilty seek it afterward.”
Pithing Needle
Card Rules and Details
Card Type: Artifact
Mana Cost: {1}
Oracle Rules Text: As this artifact enters, choose a card name. Activated abilities of sources with the chosen name can't be activated unless they're mana abilities.
Flavor Text: The fearful want the procedure before a blood festival. The guilty seek it afterward.
Set: Double Masters 2022 (#312), Rarity: Rare, Artist: Anthony Palumbo
Artifact
Colorless
Rare
$0.59
Regular
$0.49
✨ Foil
€0.56
Euro
Prices as of Sep 02, 2026. Market values fluctuate; double-check current pricing before purchasing.
Historical Printings & Sets (1)
1 Languages
Official Rulings (5)
2005-06-01
Pithing Needle affects cards regardless of what zone they're in. This includes cards in hand, cards in the graveyard, and exiled cards. For example, a player can't cycle Eternal Dragon or return an Eternal Dragon from their graveyard to hand if Pithing Needle naming Eternal Dragon is on the battlefield.
2005-06-01
You can name any card, even if that card doesn't normally have an activated ability. You can't name a token unless that token has the same name as a card.
2005-06-01
If you name a card that has both a mana ability and another activated ability, the mana ability can be activated but the other ability can't be activated.
2009-10-01
Once Pithing Needle has left the battlefield, activated abilities of sources with the chosen name can be activated again.
2012-10-01
Activated abilities include a colon and are written in the form "[cost]: [effect]." Triggered abilities and static abilities of the named card work normally.
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