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Magic · Foundations · #179 · Rare

Painful Quandary

Magic card price for Painful Quandary: $1.96 market, from $1.19 at the cheapest listing, Foil printing, updated Oct 17, 2026. Full price history since Nov 4, 2024 below.

Market price · Foil · Oct 17, 2026
$1.96
−11.7% this week · +5.4% in 30 days
Buy on eBay →
1 day−3.0%
7 days−11.7%
30 days+5.4%
90 days+20.3%
1 year+32.4%
All time−34.7%

Sellers right now

$1.19lowest listing$20.00highest
Market price$1.96
Mid listing$2.04
Direct$3.90
30-day avg$2.17

Market price is what a near-mint copy actually sold for. The cheapest listing is what a seller asks today — on thin markets the two differ a lot.

Where to buy

TCGplayer$1.96
Cardmarket$1.50 €1.33

EUR converted at 1.1253 (ECB reference rate). Shipping and condition not included.

One year

$1.0552-week low$3.0852-week high
In the range45%
All-time low$0.27
All-time high$3.08
First priceNov 4, 2024
Foil · market priceCardmarket (EU, in USD)
$0.24$1.28$2.31$3.35
$1.96
Nov 2024Jun 2025Feb 2026Oct 2026
TCGplayer · via tcgcsv · Cardmarket · via MTGJSONtcgrate.com

Price story

Painful Quandary (Foil) came out in November 2024; we leave the first weeks out of this story, because early prices are set before real supply exists. In the last year the price changed +32.4% and ranged from $1.05 to $3.08, and it now trades in the middle of that range. Listings currently start at $1.19; over the last 30 days the market price averaged $2.17.

Printings

PrintingMarketLowHigh7d
Foil$1.96$1.19$20.00−11.7%
Normal$1.66$0.65$27.69−2.9%

The card in play

Type line
Enchantment
Rules text

Whenever an opponent casts a spell, that player loses 5 life unless they discard a card.

Flavor

In Mishra's desperation to destroy his brother, he allowed Gix to destroy him instead.

Other printings of Painful Quandary

6 more · $1.96 – $21.79
All printings
Painful Quandary (73), Scars of Mirrodin — Magic card price +1.1% 7d Painful Quandary Scars of Mirrodin · #73 $21.79 Painful Quandary (Extended Art) (331), The Brothers' War — Magic card price +1.1% 7d Painful Quandary (Extended Art) The Brothers' War · #331 $6.72 Painful Quandary (BRO) (111), Prerelease Cards — Magic card price −2.6% 7d Painful Quandary (BRO) Prerelease Cards · #111 $3.05 Painful Quandary (111), Promo Pack: The Brothers' War — Magic card price +4.4% 7d Painful Quandary Promo Pack: The Brothers' War · #111 $2.82 Painful Quandary (FDN) (179), Prerelease Cards — Magic card price 0.0% 7d Painful Quandary (FDN) Prerelease Cards · #179 $2.13

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