All 30 Divvy Cards in Magic Ranked

Fact or Fiction | Illustration by Matt Cavotta

So many close-up magic card tricks ask people to cut the deck. But Magic hardly ever does! I’ve always found the lack of opponent interaction with our deck or stacks of cards in our deck (except for the post-shuffle cheat prevention step) an interesting limitation on how MTG sees the possibility space for mechanics in the game.

There are tons of practical reasons for limiting those interactions, yet a few cards work in this space, colloquially known as “the Fact or Fiction effects”, but in Magic R&D called “divvy”. The first blush of these cards shows up in Invasion, including the iconic Fact or Fiction.

Today we’re ranking all of these cards. And this isn’t just casual interest. Divvy effects can slow down a game, so if you’re building a Commander deck with divvy effects in mind, you need know what matters so you can avoid invoking the ire of the table!

What Are Divvy Cards in MTG?

Fortune's Favor | Illustration by Yohann Schepacz

Divvy is an unofficial name for the effect that splits a set of cards into piles, either by your choice or an opponent’s, and then has a player, usually an opponent, interact with those piles. The piles can be as small as one card each (Burning-Rune Demon) or potentially as large as a deck (Epiphany at the Drownyard).

Most divvy cards have a Three Card Monte type of interaction where the pile maker tries to manipulate the choice in some way, working the Vizzini-like logic of whether or not to put the good cards in the bigger or smaller piles if they aren’t equal.

#30. Bend or Break

Look, I will happily play a 6-hour Commander game. But not under these conditions. This is how you Bend or Break me, arbitrarily extending the game with resource removal like this. If you are playing Numot, the Devastator, okay, but I will probably move to a different table before we start if that’s how we’re rolling.

#29. Whims of the Fates

Is this saltier than our previous card? I dunno. At least there’s some suspense as to the outcome here. Maybe only one person has to spend the next three hours wishing they were drafting on Arena instead. Still, Whims of the Fates is yucky.

#28. Stand or Fall

Sometimes you look at the history of Magic design and you think, huh, they really are creeping power these days, aren’t they? And then you look at cards like Stand or Fall, and you think, well, what the hell was the game gonna do if they didn’t creep the power? I feel bad for whoever opened this in Draft, and I opened a lot of Homelands packs back in the day.

#27. Fight or Flight

Invasion rares were rough, right? Fight or Flight is the white rare in the divvy cycle in this set, and it’s awful, but it’s somehow not the worst even though it does stone nothing if your opponents aren’t attacking.

#26. Phyrexian Portal

I want to believe there’s something useful to do with Phyrexian Portal. I don’t think there is anything, but with infinite mana, it does draw cards while thinning your deck. Slowly.

#25. Covenant of Minds

So it’s sorcery speed, and even with a reliable buddy at the EDH table, Covenant of Minds, draws you three cards for 5, which is easy to do at instant speed these days. So that’s bad. And that's usually exactly what you get, as I would never want to give you three cards in the graveyard and a fresh grip of five.

#24. Split the Spoils

It only targets permanants, giving your opponents agency in a way that’s hard to manage unless you have a lot of duplication in your permanent selection, and it’s a sorcery. Ho hum. But, this does trigger the entering and leaving the graveyard theme for 3 mana, so, if that’s ever a thing in Historic, maybe Split the Spoils could be playable somewhere? Doubt it, though.

#23. Death or Glory

Death or Glory is a potentially powerful card with no sure home right now, although Cyan, Vengeful Samurai is a potential start.

#22. Brilliant Ultimatum

A 7-drop must be better than Brilliant Ultimatum. It isn’t bad in Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign, I guess, but it’s not good, either. You’ll get two cards in play, maybe, but usually one thing and a land, and the others are exiled. Yuck!

Still, we’ve finally hit the mark for cards that are at least playable!

#21. Boneyard Parley

A 7-drop must be better than Boneyard Parley. The exception might be Hidetsugu and Kairi, for whom this card feels really, really good to flip.

#20. Truth or Tale

Truth or Tale isn’t great, Bob, but it’s gas in The Celestial Toymaker decks, I guess?

#19. Do or Die

No one wants this to happen to them, but Do or Die also doesn’t do enough for the card slot. Invasion was a heck of a weird set!

#18. Ecological Appreciation

In green decks, this is two mana dorks for 4 mana, which makes no sense. Green has a ton of better ramp and tutors, so Ecological Appreciation isn’t an efficient use of resources. I wonder if that’s the point?

#17. Jace, Architect of Thought

Aside from planeswalker typal EDH like Commodore Guff, I just don’t think this card is seriously playable anymore. It’s never been great to start with, but not getting the cards in the graveyard with the divvy ability makes Jace, Architect of Thought a super tough sell for 4 mana.

#16. Sphinx of Clear Skies

A version of the better cards on this list that only triggers when a domain-oriented 5-drop hits in combat? Sphinx of Clear Skies is a Limited bomb but otherwise a bulk rare.

#15. Sphinx of Uthuun

Fact or Fiction on a blinkable body is great. A 7-drop is real hard. Sphinx of Uthuun does the thing, and is a must-play in sphinx typal, but otherwise this seems a tough ask.

#14. Curator of Destinies

Is Fact or Fiction better on a 6 mana 5/5 flier in a blink color? I want to say yes, but the answer seems likely to be no. Curator of Destinies is nice in sphinx typal decks and blink, but I doubt we’ll see a Standard where this is a staple.

#13. The Celestial Toymaker

The EDH commander of divvy cards, The Celestial Toymaker is a fun deck to play, and runs all the Esper-aligned cards on this list. There aren’t enough divvy cards or guess cards like Gollum, Scheming Guide to really make NPH sing here, so this commander relies on plenty of spell recursion.

#12. Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign

In a dedicated sphinx deck, Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign might be better than the cards I have ranked higher, but overall I think the divvy spells are generally more useful than divvy creatures. I want instant speed!

#11. Intrude on the Mind

Fact or Fiction plus a flier is fine, but 5 mana with two pips is just so much harder to cast, especially if you're doing things at instant speed. There’s a whole class of blue cards for 5 mana that draw three cards, sometimes with other upsides that don't let your opponent have a say in how it turns out. Still, Intrude on the Mind should be a bigger player in Standard; it’s absence is a testament to the format’s current speed.

#10. Atris, Oracle of Half-Truths

A lovely blink target that is always good fun to play. You get all the cards from Atris, Oracle of Half-Truths, which is huge. Sure, some are in the graveyard, but that's cool in Dimir colors! Classically, as the opponent, you want to show a good enough card that it’s hard to pass up, with the best card and something negligible like a land concealed face down. It feels the best to show the good card face up and the nonsense, which might be two lands, face down. You won’t always get one over on your opponent with that, but when you do, it’s worth it.

#9. Sauron’s Ransom

Sauron's Ransom shaves a mana off Fact or Fiction in exchange for seeing fewer cards, but the ring also tempts you to enhance a creature. At instant speed, this is great in LTR Limited and totally playable in EDH.

#8. Fortune’s Favor

A junior Fact or Fiction is still decent. Fortune's Favor is worth a slot in an EDH deck that plays the original.

#7. Steam Augury

Steam Augury is Fortune's Favor, harder to cast, but it picks up five cards. And Izzet players always seem to find their mana, don’t they?

#6. Make an Example

Make an Example does a fine Plague Wind impression against go wide decks, which usually have lords or other enablers that a small culling really sets back. It’s also a nice early game card that can often just pick off all the commanders on the field.

#5. Burning-Rune Demon

Demonic Tutor plus Entomb on a 6/6 flier. Sure, your opponent gets to make the final call, but in Commander, you can likely set up two interchangeable pieces with Burning-Rune Demon. In a deck with a Reanimate package or Underworld Breach-esque graveyard shenanigans, this can do everything you want.

#4. Epiphany at the Drownyard

Instant speed goes a long way here for Epiphany at the Drownyard. For 2 mana you get a card and something probably better in the ‘yard. For 4, you get one less than Fact or Fiction. For 5, you get three worse cards than the typical blue instant draw three. None of those scenarios are particularly great, though putting the rest of the cards in the graveyard means this can go in a lot of decks.

#3. Hostile Negotiations

Six cards is a good amount of cards. You get to see and manipulate the piles. Hostile Negotiations is generally better than Fact or Fiction. And in a Dimir deck, I’d still say that’s true, because you can utilize this card being an instant better. This has been underplayed so far.

#2. Fact or Fiction

The almost eponymous card for this effect, Fact or Fiction does a ton of work and it is still amazing after 25 years! Two or three cards in the graveyard and two or three in hand, which is great at instant speed for 4. It’s even better in decks that use the graveyard well, either with reanimation spells or cards like Zethi, Arcane Blademaster or Kess, Dissident Mage.

#1. Liliana of the Veil

The recent reprint shows that Liliana of the Veil remains a monster across formats. It can be brutal even in Powered Cube! A 3-mana edict isn’t where you want to be, usually, but to do that and keeping this planeswalker is sick. Once you start down the discard path, either because you’re topdecking or you need to stock your graveyard, ticking Liliana up slowly toward the Divvy of Doom ultimate, an opponent can feel just stuck. The threat of the edict means you have to topdeck card draw, a creature with haste, or a planeswalker removal spell. Tell me you haven’t scooped to that on the ladder.

There’s also what folks often call its secret fourth ability, which is just not to activate Liliana. You aren’t ready to lose your hand to your planeswalker, but it remains there with its other secret static ability, an aura of sadness and anxiety.

Best Divvy Payoffs

The Celestial Toymaker

The Celestial Toymaker is a whole vibe. If you spent the money on the Doctor Who Secret Lair to nab this, you probably want to build a deck around it, because the card is useless in any 99. It’s not a great deck, and it struggles hard when NPH isn’t in play, but the whole thing gives you an opportunity to sing lyrics from Doctor Horrible in public, so there’s that?

Draw-Go Decks

Blue has enough card draw, especially in Commander, to not need these cards the way it once might have. Two cards at instant speed for 4, even if the opponent knows whether or not they’re counterspells, used to be enough of a reason. But as pure card advantage, not so much anymore.

There is utility in letting people see your cards, especially in a multiplayer game. Threat perception is important. In a two-player match, it’s about hoping the opponent thinks your last Island in hand is actually a spell, but in Commander, you never have enough cards to bluff. Sometimes letting the table see the limits of your cards helps to quell the fear the casuals have of blue, which is usually overblown.

Spells + Recursion Decks

Captain N'ghathrod is a good example here, but any spellslinger deck that uses the graveyard or even stuff like combo decks or creature reanimation decks would do. Divvy cards often get four or five cards off the library. You can draw cards or self-mill, but to be able to fill hand and graveyard efficiently at the same time is often exactly what you are looking for.

What Were the First Divvy Effects in MTG?

Invasion gave us the first effects of this kind, including Fact or Fiction and the chaff that populates the bottom of this list.

Are Fact or Fiction Effects Good?

They are often efficient ways to get large volumes of cards in hand and in the graveyard, but in a world where self mill or surveil are tacked on to all sorts of things, divvy cards decline in value every year.

But there are decks where these effects still work. In those spaces, we often end up in Vizzini land and try to figure out which basic version of the divvy effect is best: your opponents making piles and you choosing, or the other way around. Most would say that making the piles is the more powerful position, given that you have the most information.

Do you, though? In a universe where no one has ever seen these effects, like when Atris was unleashed on Arena, that is indeed the most information. But when you’ve been around the block with these effects, being the one who makes the choice is the best place to be. The best cards will be hidden, almost invariably. So you’re playing the odds if they’re there in the first place or the pile maker tossed two lands in the face down pile because everything was mid and they want to trick you. If you know the deck, you know the odds there was something worth chasing in the face down piles.

But look, if you are playing these effects to chase a good card or two, there are better ways to do that. If I’m playing these cards, I usually have one choice if I’m picking for me: Do I want the bigger pile in my hand or graveyard? The information of the face up cards might push that choice to the back burner, but hardly ever. And that choice is inverted if I'm choosing a pile for the opponent.

There are variants of these effects that disrupt that, but this general logic holds for the cards that follow the Fact or Fiction template where the choice is hand or graveyard.

What Is a Pile in MTG?

A pile is a selection of cards to which a further interaction or effect happens. Those piles can be as small as one or zero depending on how they are generated. Expose the Culprit and Become Anonymous are two examples of how a pile works outside of the divvy space.

This is different than just a selection of cards, like drawing four with Into the Story. Those cards are not a pile, even though they might be a larger stack than you’d get in a divvy effect.

Wrap Up

Atris, Oracle of Half-Truths | Illustration by Bastien L. Deharme

Divvy cards are fun (mostly!), but still pretty niche. They’ve suffered from the power creep of card draw in the 25 years since the first wave was printed, as well as the proliferation of ways to get things in the graveyard.

But I’m ready for wild innovation in this space! Each player gets a pile and then something like the sad old mechanic of clash, where you flip off the top, or the pile becomes a temporary second hand, or something to do with piles and the fun mental calculations you have to do with your opponent. It’s a skill-testing area that reminds me of amateur poker where you’re staring at people and looking for tells. I want more of that at Commander night or FNM. If the now dominant format of this game is group casual and social, we need more effects reflecting that!

Are you ready for more divvy, maybe even a keywording? Let us know in the comments or on Discord if you want to pile on.

I’ll see myself out.