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Is there an effect that would allow you to force an opponent to cast a spell you own, without relying on cards from their library? A similar effect exists with Word of Command which forces them to cast a spell they own.

One way I can think of is using Sorin Markov's ultimate and make them Spelljack one of your spells, but it requires the use of one of your opponent's cards.

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  • What exactly is your question? Are you unclear on how Word of Command or Sorin's ultimate works?
    – Hackworth
    Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 5:25
  • @Hackworth I am not unclear, I am using them as an example to segway into asking if a similar effect, forcing them cast a spell you own as opposed to a spell they own is achievable
    – chiliNUT
    Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 5:26
  • @Hackworth I hope my edit makes the question clearer.
    – chiliNUT
    Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 5:30
  • I mean, you already gave Spelljack as an example of how a player could play an opponent's card, what makes you think the combo wouldn't work?
    – Hackworth
    Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 5:35
  • @Hackworth it would work fine, but it requires them to have a Spelljack. I want to know if its possible using only the cards in your library, since I can't plan on them owning a Spelljack
    – chiliNUT
    Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 5:41

2 Answers 2

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The only way I know to force an opponent to cast one of your spells without controlling their turn is Hive Mind, which reads

Whenever a player casts an instant or sorcery spell, each other player copies that spell. Each of those players may choose new targets for their copy.

They don't technically cast the spell, but they get a copy of it (and they don't get an option as to whether or not they get a copy - while they can control the targets, they can't choose to not play it like they could with Eye of the Storm. It won't increase their storm count, but they'll get the effect of the spell.

There's even a combo deck based around playing Hive Mind and then playing Pacts that your opponents aren't able to pay for, forcing them to lose the game.

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  • Hive mind is really cool. If you play a Final Fortune, who gets the next turn?
    – chiliNUT
    Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 7:52
  • 1
    From the Final Fortune Gathere rulings:" If multiple “extra turn” effects resolve in the same turn, take them in the reverse of the order that the effects resolved." Your Final Fortune will resolve last, which means that your extra turn will happen first. But there are a couple of different ways to skip your turn or keep yourself from losing, so that's not insurmountable. Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 7:57
  • Such as waiting until their copy resolves and then countering your own.
    – JKreft
    Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 8:48
  • Should the last sentence have Hive Mind instead of Eye of the Storm?
    – JollyJoker
    Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 12:08
  • @murgatroid99 entirely correct, and fixed now. Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 16:36
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There are a few ways to force an opponent to cast a spell you own. There are a number of permanent cards that allow you to cast cards from an opponent's library, including Chaos Wand, Daxos of Meletis, and Etali, Primal Storm. If you have a permanent like that, you can give it to your opponent with something like Donate or Zedruu the Greathearted, then take control of them with Mindslaver or Sorin Markov's ultimate and force them to use that ability. If you have some kind of deck manipulation too, you can choose which card they cast.

Alternatively you can cast the spell yourself, then transfer control of it to your opponent. To do this, you would use a Perplexing Chimera. As before, you can donate the Chimera to them, or just use the Chimera's own ability when they cast a spell, then control their turn and cast the chosen spell, and force them to gain control of the spell in exchange for the Chimera.

In most situations, these two options are practically the same: the player who controls the spell is the one who follows the instructions, and "you" on the spell refers to the controller. The primary difference is on-cast triggers. If a player has an effect that says "whenever you cast a spell" (like cards with Prowess) or the spell itself has "when you cast this spell" (like on Emrakul, the Aeons Torn), the triggered ability will be controlled by the player who cast the spell, not the player who controls the spell as it resolves.

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  • donating a perplexing chimera, or mindslavering with chaos wand both look like viable options. thanks for the clarification about casting
    – chiliNUT
    Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 6:52
  • 1
    @chiliNUT Note that Perplexing Chimera has a "may" ability, so you still need to Mindslaver them to force them to take control of the spell. Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 7:37
  • @ArcanistLupus ah yeah I stand corrected
    – chiliNUT
    Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 7:45
  • Gonti is an enter the battlefield ability so that wouldn't work. Thief of Sanity would work if you could give it haste (or pass it over the turn before) though.
    – Tim B
    Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 9:58
  • You're right, Gonti isn't a good example here. I've replaced it with Etali.
    – murgatroid99
    Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 15:14

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