MTG: 20 Best Cards You Can Cast For Free (Once You Meet Their Conditions)!

Did you know there are Magic: The Gathering cards that you can cast for "free" after you meet certain conditions? The most famous of them all is probably Black Lotus, an iconic mana rock that was desired by many players worldwide. However, making a card cost zero mana isn't the only way to cast an MTG card for free.

You can exile cards, sacrifice permanents, discard lands, and a lot more to meet a card's requirements and play it for free (that is, without spending any mana). Here, at Cards Realm, we've already covered the top 15 best free spells in Magic: The Gathering, but in this one you'll find 20 cards that you can cast for free once you meet their conditions. They're less popular, but can still be great in your deck.

Please note that, unlike other articles, we won't rank these cards in any particular order. The idea is to write a guide that you can consult and help players who are seeking new options for their decks. Let's go!

For this article, we stayed within the definition of 'cards that are free once you meet certain conditions'.

Some examples we couldn't include, but illustrate this idea well are:

- Deflecting Swat, which is free as long as you control a commander;

- Force of Negation, which is free as long as it isn't your turn, and you exile a blue card from your hand;

- Snuff Out, which is free if you control a Swamp and pay 4 life.

As we mentioned before, our idea is not to rank these cards, but rather show you a few lesser known options. So, prepare yourself to see cards that are way more unpopular than the ones above.

Let's see them!

Snapback

Sometimes, the best way to get rid of an attacker is to send it back to their owner's hand. Snapback is a blue instant that you can cast for free if you exile a blue card from your hand. Then, you can return a target creature to their owner's hand.

You can also use this spell defensively if you target a creature that you control.

Fury of the Horde

An extra combat is only bad news when they're used against us.

Fury of the Horde was probably designed considering the cost to cast it for free because it is much better that way. To cast it for free, you need to exile two red cards from your hand. Then, you'll play an extra combat phase and another main phase. That's a lot in just one card!

Flare of Cultivation

Sacrificing a creature can hurt, but, in this case, it can be great for you.

Its effect is just like Cultivate's, so you'll look for two basic lands, put one in play tapped, and keep the other one in your hand.

Foil

Are you out of mana and need to answer something? Relax! With Foil, an Island, and another card in your hand, you can play a free counter that will certainly catch your opponent off-guard.

Snag

Can your opponent kill you through combat with many powerful creatures? Relax, there is an answer to this problem!

If you have Snag, you can discard a Forest instead of paying for its mana cost and prevent all combat damage that would be dealt by unblocked creatures on that turn.

Summoning Trap

Falling into a trap is always bad, but setting one up for your opponent is fun, actually.

If a creature spell you cast was countered by a spell or an enemy ability, you can cast Summoning Trap for nothing at all.

After you play this spell, you can pick a creature from the top seven cards in your deck and put it in play. It's a great trap, don't you think?

Sunscour

Sometimes, you just can't pay for a boardwipe with mana. In these situations, you can play Sunscour, which is free if you exile two other white cards from your hand. After you do that, you can simply destroy all creatures in play!

Cave-In

Depending on the match, some red spells can be useful to clear the board, and Cave-In is one of them.

If you exile a red card from your hand, you can cast Cave-In for free and deal 2 damage to each creature in play, as well as each player.

Nourishing Shoal

"Will there be any X-cost cards in this article?" Well, of course!

No one asked for it, but we included Nourishing Shoal anyway. This green spell that gives you life is free if you exile a card from your hand. Then, your "X" will be the converted mana cost of the card you exiled.

For instance: If you exile a Ghalta, Primal Hunger, you'll gain 12 life.

Thwart

Do you need to counter a spell, but forgot to save some mana? Return 3 Islands to your hand and cast Thwart for free to counter a target spell.

Mind Swords

Mind Swords has no friends. If you control a Swamp, you can sacrifice a creature to cast this card for free and force each player to exile two cards from their hands.

It is the type of sorcery we like playing when we know it will disrupt (or even destroy) the opponent's game plan.

Land Grant

Out of all the cards in this list, this is the most unusual.

Have you played all the lands in your hand? Then you can reveal it entirely and play Land Grant for free. Then you can look in your deck for a Forest and put it in your hand.

Disrupting Shoal

Another X-cost card you can cast for free if you meet certain conditions!

If you exile a blue card from your hand, you can play this card for free and counter a target spell with a converted mana cost X. It is similar to Kozilek, the Great Distortion.

Abolish

If there's something white does well, it is removing permanents. To play Abolish for free, discard a Plain. Then, you can destroy a target artifact or enchantment.

Allosaurus Rider

The first creature in this list is an Elf Warrior who is mounted on a Dinosaur! You can cast Allosaurus Rider for free if you exile two green cards from your hand.

Its power and toughness are 1 + the number of lands you control.

Reverent Mantra

Sometimes, you don't have enough mana to cast protection. You can cast Reverent Mantra for free if you exile a white card from your hand to protect your creatures. You'll grant them protection from the color of your choice until the end of the turn.

This card affects all creatures, including your opponent's. So, use it wisely.

Unmask

Are you still grieving Grief? Then you need to meet Unmask! If you exile a black card from your hand, you can cast this sorcery for free to look at a player's hand and pick a nonland card for them to discard.

Spinning Darkness

Once you cast Spinning Darkness, you'll deal 3 damage to a target nonblack creature and gain 3 life. To cast it for free, just exile three black cards from your graveyard.

Demon of Death's Gate

Demon of Death's Gate might not be the strongest card in this list, but its alternative cost is definitely the most unusual one of all.

If you sacrifice three black creatures (which can be tokens) and pay 6 life, you can cast this 9/9 Demon with Flying and Trample for free and attack your opponents with it.

Soul Spike

Last but not least, we have Soul Spike! This instant deals 4 damage to any target and gives you 4 life. To cast it for free, you can exile two black cards from your hand.

This is the end of our list with 20 cards that are free if you meet certain conditions!

Tell us which card you think should be on this list. Keep in mind, we're looking at the least popular ones.

If you enjoy articles like this one, tell us what you want to see next - we always read comments!

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!