Brilliant Ultimatum 
Sorcery
Oracle text (EN)
Sorcery
Exile the top five cards of your library. An opponent separates those cards into two piles. You may play lands and cast spells from one of those piles. If you cast a spell this way, you cast it without paying its mana cost.
Printing details
- Set
- ALA · 159
- Rarity
- Rare
- Language
- EN
- Artist
- Anthony Francisco
- Released
- 2008-10-03
- Prices
- €0.64 · $1.20
Price history
The trend shows with at least 7 days of history.
- Cardmarket, trend
- CardTrader, Near Mint minimum (EN)
The history starts on October 28, 2026 and grows every day.
Show the data
| Date | Cardmarket, trend | CardTrader, Near Mint minimum (EN) |
|---|---|---|
| November 1, 2026 | €0.62 | €1.59 |
| October 31, 2026 | €0.64 | €1.59 |
| October 30, 2026 | €0.63 | €1.59 |
| October 28, 2026 | €0.69 | €1.59 |
Prices
| Source | Non-foil | Foil |
|---|---|---|
| Cardmarket | low – trend €0.62 30-day avg €0.67 | low €1.00 trend €2.29 30-day avg €2.22 |
| CardTrader (EN) | NM from €1.59 with Zero from €1.59 | NM from €3.31 with Zero from €3.31 |
| CardTrader (any language) | NM from €0.23 | NM from €2.09 |
Cardmarket updated Nov 1, 2026 · CardTrader updated Nov 1, 2026
Buy and look up
Legality
- standard Not legal
- pioneer Not legal
- modern Legal
- legacy Legal
- vintage Legal
- commander Legal
- pauper Not legal
- alchemy Not legal
- brawl Not legal
- competitivebrawl Not legal
- duel Legal
- future Not legal
- gladiator Not legal
- historic Not legal
- oathbreaker Legal
- oldschool Not legal
- paupercommander Not legal
- penny Legal
- predh Legal
- premodern Not legal
- standardbrawl Not legal
- timeless Not legal
- tlr Not legal
Rulings
-
The cards are exiled face up.
-
The cards in the pile that wasn’t chosen remain exiled. Likewise, any cards in the chosen pile that you can’t play or you choose not to play remain exiled.
-
If you cast a card “without paying its mana cost,” you can’t pay any alternative costs. You can pay additional costs, such as conspire costs and kicker costs.
-
You can play a land card from the chosen pile only if it’s your turn (which it probably is, since Brilliant Ultimatum is a sorcery) and you haven’t yet played a land this turn. That means that if there are two lands in the chosen pile, you’ll be able to play a maximum of one of them.
-
You play cards from the chosen pile as part of the resolution of Brilliant Ultimatum. You may play them in any order. Timing restrictions based on the card’s type (such as creature or sorcery) are ignored. Other play restrictions are not (such as “Cast [this card] only during combat”). You play all of the cards you like, putting land onto the battlefield and spells on the stack, then Brilliant Ultimatum finishes resolving and is put into your graveyard. The spells you cast this way will then resolve as normal, one at a time, in the opposite order that they were put on the stack.
-
One of the piles may have zero cards in it if the opponent wishes.