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Unstable Footing

Red

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

Unstable Footing, Zendikar printing
Zendikar ZEN · No. 153 2009-10-02

Card text

{R}
Instant
Kicker {3}{R} (You may pay an additional {3}{R} as you cast this spell.) Damage can't be prevented this turn. If this spell was kicked, it deals 5 damage to target player or planeswalker.
Keywords: Kicker
A long way down is shorter than you think.
EDHREC rank #23872 Uncommon 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

12 rulings · in English, source Scryfall

Unstable Footing's effect causes damage from all sources to be unpreventable, not just damage from Unstable Footing itself.

2009-10-01 · Wizards of the Coast

If damage can't be prevented, static abilities that prevent damage (including protection abilities) don't do so. If they have additional effects that don't depend on the amount of damage prevented, those additional effects will still work. Such effects are applied only once per source of damage.

2009-10-01 · Wizards of the Coast

If Unstable Footing is kicked and the targeted player is an illegal target by the time it resolves, the entire spell doesn't resolve. Damage can still be prevented.

2009-10-01 · Wizards of the Coast

Effects that replace or redirect damage without using the word "prevent" are not affected by Unstable Footing.

2009-10-01 · Wizards of the Coast

If a creature is dealt lethal damage, it can still regenerate. If it does, the damage marked on it will be removed from it.

2009-10-01 · Wizards of the Coast

If damage can't be prevented, damage prevention shields don't have any effect. If a prevention effect has an additional effect, the additional effect will still work (if possible). Spells that create prevention effects can still be cast, and abilities that create prevention effects can still be activated.

2009-10-01 · Wizards of the Coast

If you put a permanent with a kicker ability onto the battlefield without casting it, you can't kick it.

2024-11-08 · Wizards of the Coast

The kicker ability doesn't let you pay a kicker cost more than once.

2024-11-08 · 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.

2024-11-08 · 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.

2024-11-08 · 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.

2024-11-08 · Wizards of the Coast

If a spell's kicker cost was paid, the spell is "kicked."

2024-11-08 · Wizards of the Coast

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