Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Insidious Will: Longitudinal Performance Across Sets
Blue has always loved to improvise, improvise, and improvise some more, but Insidious Will takes that spirit to a new level. This Kaladesh instant—costing {2}{U}{U} for a neat four mana—offers flexibility that ages surprisingly well. As a card released in 2016, it entered the Modern and Legacy ecosystems with a distinct promise: turn on the tap-dance of choices at instant speed. Across sets and formats, its three-mode design has made it a reliable piece for control mages who crave tempo, caution, and the occasional audacious play. 🧙♂️🔥💎
Its three options—counter a spell, redirect a spell’s targets, or copy an instant or sorcery spell with new targets—are more than a clever trick; they’re a blueprint for how a single card can stay relevant as a deck evolves. Kaladesh’s environment rewarded clever play and flexible answers, and Insidious Will fits that ethos like a well-oiled cogs-into-vehicles moment. The card’s mana cost sits at a respectable four, which means it doesn’t demand the breakneck tempo of true one-mana counterspells, yet it doesn’t overstay its welcome either. In a meta that values both control and explosive interaction, Insidious Will often acts as a bridge—a misdirection tool that keeps you in the throne room while your opponents topple over their own plans. 🧙♂️🎲
Three Modes, Three Paths
What makes Insidious Will stand out in the long arc of play is its versatility. Here’s how the card tends to break down in practice across formats and years:
- Counter target spell: The classic mode. In Legacy and Modern, you’ll often see it used in control mirrors or as a pivotal defense against a blowout spell. It’s the kind of play that buys you a turn or two to set up your plan, and in the hands of a patient player, those turns compound into a win condition. 🧙♂️
- New targets for target spell: This is where you turn a potentially devastating opponent's spell into a non-threatening version—or even a perfectly useless one. Redirecting a game-changing spell can stall the opponent’s momentum and set up a favorable board state, especially when you’re juggling multiple threats or trying to dodge a mass removal spell. ⚔️
- Copy target instant or sorcery spell, with new targets: Copying a spell is a sneaky engine for value. In a format where spell-slinging matters, duplicating a removal, a draw, or a cantrip can tilt the game in your favor. It’s the kind of line that rewards careful sequencing and reading the stack like a pro. 💎
We meet again, pyromancer. —Baral, Chief of Compliance
Kaladesh’s Design Ethos and Blue Control
Kaladesh was a sandbox where artifact-mad innovation danced with a blue’s love of permission and projection. Insidious Will embodies that blend: it’s not a pure counterspell, nor is it merely a copy engine. It’s an instrument for shaping the course of a game. The art by Anthony Palumbo captures the sleek, electric aesthetic of Kaladesh’s world—tight lines, glimmers of energy, and a sense that magic is a technology as much as a mystery. The card’s rarity—rare—pairs with its strategic flexibility, giving players a reliable, repeatable tool that won’t break the bank in most formats. 🧙♂️🎨
From a mechanical perspective, Insidious Will fits neatly into blue-control shells that seek to maximaize card advantage while removing outs in the opponent’s plan. Its affordability in mana means you don’t have to mortgage your late-game to deploy it, and its trio of modes makes it a fit for both proactive and reactive pacing. In a modern or legacy metagame that values answer options for both single targets and entire archetypes, Insidious Will remains a compact force multiplier. The flavor text anchors its identity in Baral’s world—a reminder that even a legal spell can be a personal and political statement in the arena of mage-on-mage combat. 🔥💎
From Kaladesh to Modern, Legacy, and Beyond: A Longitudinal View
The creature of the moment across many years has been the card’s adaptability. In Modern, its ability to counter or redirect can be the difference between you stabilizing the board and the game slipping away in a flurry of cheap spells. In Legacy, where raw speed and layered counterplay collide, Insidious Will can appear as a thoughtful answer in control matchups or as a multitool in midrange strategies that want to tilt the stack in their favor. It’s also an appealing option in Commander where the chaos of a blue deck often demands flexible, multi-use interaction. The card’s mana cost remains approachable, and its multiple outcomes keep it from becoming a one-trick pony. 🧙♂️🎲
Prices, while fluctuating with each rotation and printing, generally place Insidious Will in a budget-friendly tier for non-foil copies, with foil variants offering a bit more shine for collectors. That balance—solid utility without breaking the bank—helps it remain a staple for players revisiting or testing blue-control builds across formats. The set’s provenance helps too: Kaladesh codified a flavor of clever gadgetry and kinetic energy that resonates with players who love to outthink their opponent as much as they outresource them. 💎⚔️
Art, Rarity, and Collectibility
Anthony Palumbo’s illustration carries the crisp, geometric energy of Kaladesh’s aesthetic. The card’s black border and traditional frame reflect a design era that mixed traditional spellcasting with the era’s distinct mechanical flair. The rarity—rare—places Insidious Will in that sweet spot where it’s not a throwaway common, but not so scarce that it becomes a chase piece. Collectors often appreciate the card for its utility and its place in the Kaladesh storyline, as well as its live performance in casual and Commander tables where its trio of options shines in a sticky, long-running game. The market’s price reflects not just the card’s functionality, but its enduring presence in blue-based archetypes across sets. 🧙♂️💎
Deckbuilding Notes and How to Use It
If you’re putting Insidious Will into a deck, here are a few practical notes to keep the plan on rails:
- Tell a consistent story: lean into a control shell that can weather pressure and deploy the Will as a flexible pivot at the most critical moments.
- Consider your curve: since it costs four mana, it’s often a midgame answer that buys you the tempo to set up your finisher or stabilizing chain. Pair it with draw engines and card-advantage spells to maximize value on the stacked layer.
- Matchups benefit from variety: in matchups where opponents rely on a suite of single-target spells, the copy and redirect options can swing a game when they don’t anticipate your exact line.
- Sideboard and stax considerations: in legacy and some modern meta decks, Insidious Will can be a durable answer to midrange and control strategies—especially when you’re building to disrupt a known plan.
For fans looking to explore vintage or contemporary takes on blue control, Insidious Will remains a compelling inclusion. Its three modes provide a robust toolkit that can adapt to the rhythm of your local metas, your collection, and your preference for clever, high-leverage plays. And yes, sometimes the best play is simply to let the Will be willed. 🧙♂️✨