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Brilliant Ultimatum

BlackBlueWhite

1 printing listed in our catalog, from newest to oldest.

Brilliant Ultimatum, Shards of Alara printing
Shards of Alara ALA · No. 159 2008-10-03

Card text

{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.
Revealing the truth only deepened Tezzeret's curiosity for the secrets still buried.
EDHREC rank #12637 Rare Not on the Reserved List
Seen in store
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Standard ∅ Not legal
Pioneer ∅ Not legal
Modern ✓ Legal
Legacy ✓ Legal
Vintage ✓ Legal
Pauper ∅ Not legal
Commander ✓ Legal
Oathbreaker ✓ Legal
Brawl ∅ Not legal
Historic ∅ Not legal
Timeless ∅ Not legal
Alchemy ∅ Not legal
Explorer ∅ Not legal
Gladiator ∅ Not legal
Penny ✓ Legal
Duel ✓ Legal

Official rulings

6 rulings · in English, source Scryfall

The cards are exiled face up.

2008-10-01 · Wizards of the Coast

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 · Wizards of the Coast

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 · Wizards of the Coast

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 · Wizards of the Coast

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.

2008-10-01 · Wizards of the Coast

One of the piles may have zero cards in it if the opponent wishes.

2008-10-01 · Wizards of the Coast

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