Magic: The Gathering has been around for a long time. As a result, older MTG cards can be a bit difficult to parse using modern text and rulesets. Just look at the absolute mouthful that the original Oubliette offered players. Phasing Out allowed the card to be simplified a great deal, but the card could definitely cause some head-scratching beforehand.
Whenever you come across some text that may not make sense at first glance, going to the Oracle Text for the card on Gatherer is the best way to nail down exactly what your card is trying to do in modern language. This is commonly used to solve a lot of gaps in understanding when playing Magic.
That’s why when Oracle Text suddenly changes on an MTG card players tend to take notice quickly. This has just happened, in fact following the most recent round of Oracle Text changes for MTG Foundations. An MTG card from 19 years ago has seemingly been transformed into a true powerhouse out of nowhere. There’s a real chance, however, that this massive upgrade is just a mistake from Wizards of the Coast.
The Truth Behind Michiko Konda?
Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker has always been a nasty card to appear on Commander tables. Dealing you too much damage can result in a player losing their entire board. Any pinging deck that utilizes effects like Impact Tremors has a very difficult time dealing with Michiko Konda.
Perhaps the most forgiving aspect of Michiko Konda is that opponents get to choose what permanents they sacrifice. This is hardly unusual in MTG, as players generally have some control over what permanents they have to sacrifice. That’s why the update to Michiko Konda’s Oracle Text is so alarming.
Currently, as pointed out by many on Reddit, Michiko Konda’s Oracle Text reads as such:
“Whenever a source an opponent controls deals damage to you, that player sacrifices a permanent of your choice.”
Gatherer
‘Of your choice’ is new text that players are not used to seeing. This appeared in the last update to Gatherer and could mean big things for Michiko Konda. Now, when you take damage, there is a possibility that you get to choose the permanent that your opponent sacrifices with Michiko Konda’s triggered ability.
This is an absolutely absurd upgrade. Now, Michiko Konda threatens to take out your opponent’s most important permanent whenever you take damage. The card even gets around annoying effects like Ward, Hexproof, and Shroud since there is no targeting involved.
As powerful as this is, it also doesn’t make a ton of sense. We’ve rarely seen effects that force opponents to sacrifice cards of our choice. Ashling, the Extinguisher is one of the rare exceptions, and it does a lot less work than Michiko Konda. The card is also worded entirely differently.
Redditors seem to agree that this Oracle Text update is bizarre at best, and many believe that this effect does not work as written.
Most Likely a Mistake
If the update to Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker’s Oracle Text is the real deal, it makes very little sense. There’s absolutely no reason to massively buff a somewhat forgotten creature like this one out of nowhere. Redditors believe that this was simply a mistake that cropped up during a Gatherer update:
“That’s most definitely a mistake. She becomes insane with that change, and practically unprecedented.”
BreadfruitImpressive
Almost everyone is currently convinced that this Michiko Konda update is an oversight on WOTC’s part, but some are holding out hope that this ancient creature suddenly got a massive buff overnight:
“looks like an oversight to me but it would be honestly pretty funny if they were just like oh yeah this random card is massively better now”
Infinite_Bananas
If this update is real, will this make Michiko Konda playable in competitive Modern? We doubt it. Not only does this card cost four mana to cast, but it gets removed by almost every playable removal spell in the format. Forget Lightning Bolt, Michiko Konda even dies to an Unholy Heat without Delirium or a Tarfire.
UPDATE: Wizards of the Coast employee Matt Tebak has recently confirmed that the update to Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker was indeed a mistake.
