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Unstable Footing

{R}

Instant

ZENZendikar#153uncommon
Foil

A long way down is shorter than you think.

Border
black
Frame
2003
Pull rate
about 1 per booster–1 in 1067
Illustrator
Nic Klein
Found in
Zendikar MTGO Redemption Foil · Zendikar MTGO Redemption · 2 more
Printings1
CommanderLegalModernLegalStandardNot legal
Format legality
AlchemyNot legal
BrawlNot legal
CommanderLegal
Competitive BrawlNot legal
DuelLegal
Future StandardNot legal
GladiatorNot legal
HistoricNot legal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
Old SchoolNot legal
PauperNot legal
Pauper CommanderNot legal
PennyLegal
PioneerNot legal
PreDHLegal
PremodernNot legal
StandardNot legal
Standard BrawlNot legal
TimelessNot legal
Tiny LeadersLegal
VintageLegal
Kicker {3}{R} (You may pay an additional {3}{R} as you cast this spell.) Damage can't be prevented this turn. If this spell was kicked, it deals 5 damage to target player or planeswalker.
Kicker

Plays as: Burn · Planeswalker Removal

Market · per finishspark updated 12h ago · prices as of 2026-07-12
Nonfoil+0.0%
$0.07
$0.01 low$0.00 gap
Foil+0.0%
$0.59
$0.15 low$0.07 gap
Cheapest playable copy$0.07· across 1 printing

Rulings

12 · latest Nov 8, 2024 · one tap opens all
  • WotCNov 8, 2024

    If a card or token enters as a copy of a permanent, the new permanent isn't kicked, even if the original was.

  • WotCNov 8, 2024

    If a spell's kicker cost was paid, the spell is "kicked."

  • WotCNov 8, 2024

    If you copy a kicked spell on the stack, the copy is also kicked. If the copied spell is a permanent spell, the token the copy of that spell becomes when it enters is also kicked.

  • WotCNov 8, 2024

    If you put a permanent with a kicker ability onto the battlefield without casting it, you can't kick it.

  • WotCNov 8, 2024

    The kicker ability doesn't let you pay a kicker cost more than once.

  • WotCNov 8, 2024

    To determine a spell's total cost, start with the mana cost (or an alternative cost if another card's effect allows you to pay one instead), add any cost increases (such as kicker), then apply any cost reductions. The spell's mana value remains unchanged, no matter what the total cost to cast it was.

  • WotCOct 1, 2009

    Effects that replace or redirect damage without using the word "prevent" are not affected by Unstable Footing.

  • WotCOct 1, 2009

    If Unstable Footing is kicked and the targeted player is an illegal target by the time it resolves, the entire spell doesn't resolve. Damage can still be prevented.

  • WotCOct 1, 2009

    If a creature is dealt lethal damage, it can still regenerate. If it does, the damage marked on it will be removed from it.

  • WotCOct 1, 2009

    If damage can't be prevented, damage prevention shields don't have any effect. If a prevention effect has an additional effect, the additional effect will still work (if possible). Spells that create prevention effects can still be cast, and abilities that create prevention effects can still be activated.

  • WotCOct 1, 2009

    If damage can't be prevented, static abilities that prevent damage (including protection abilities) don't do so. If they have additional effects that don't depend on the amount of damage prevented, those additional effects will still work. Such effects are applied only once per source of damage.

  • WotCOct 1, 2009

    Unstable Footing's effect causes damage from all sources to be unpreventable, not just damage from Unstable Footing itself.