Ensnared by the Mara
Mana Cost:
Type: Sorcery
Oracle Text:
Each opponent faces a villainous choice — They exile cards from the top of their library until they exile a nonland card, then you may cast that card without paying its mana cost, or that player exiles the top four cards of their library and Ensnared by the Mara deals damage equal to the total mana value of those exiled cards to that player.
Power/Toughness: -/-
Rarity: rare
Prints: View all prints (1) →
Expansion: Doctor Who
Public Decks Using This Card
No public decks are currently using this card.
Character Background
Ensnared by the Mara reads like a red chaos-value finisher that excels in multiplayer and spellslinger builds: it forces opponents into an ugly choice that either gives you free access to whatever nonland they reveal or punishes them with a potentially large damage hit, creating tempo swings and card advantage in equal measure. Thematically it plays like a mind-snare—you either hand your attacker a threat or accept self-harm—and mechanically it best supports a value/tempo game plan that loves casting unexpected spells. It pairs very well with cards that care about you casting spells (Young Pyromancer, Guttersnipe, Monastery Mentor) so stolen opponents’ cards become additional generators of tokens/damage, and it’s powerful in multiplayer pods where multiple villainous choices stack. Deck-building tip: put this in a red-heavy spellslinger or chaos midrange list, include cheap cantrips and ways to protect your board, and beware matchups with ultra-low-mana or land-heavy libraries where the damage mode underperforms.
Generated using gpt-5-mini · Updated at 2026-05-16 09:20:46 UTC