Close Encounter

Strategy & Gameplay

Close Encounter is a versatile green instant that offers creative removal options across multiple formats and deck archetypes. This spell costs just one green mana and one generic mana, making it an efficient answer to early threats while maintaining flexibility throughout the game. The mechanics work by allowing you to choose either a creature you control or a warped creature card in exile, then dealing damage equal to that creature's power to a target creature. This design opens up multiple strategic applications: in aggressive creature-focused decks, you can sacrifice your own creatures for targeted damage, effectively converting your board into removal while generating value. In decks that specifically care about exile mechanics or warped creatures—particularly those utilizing sets like Exodus of Eternity—Close Encounter becomes a powerful synergy piece that rewards your existing gameplan while answering threats. The instant speed is particularly valuable, allowing you to respond to threats at the last moment or catch opponents off-guard during combat. The card's legality across Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, and multiple other formats makes it accessible to players at virtually any competitive or casual level. It fits naturally into stompy decks, aggressive green strategies, sacrifice-themed decks, and any archetype built around exile mechanics. For Commander players, Close Encounter offers both flexibility and synergy potential with commanders that interact with exile zones or creature sacrifice. Whether you're playing a casual Friday Night Magic deck or testing in constructed formats, this instant provides efficient, repeatable removal with surprising depth of strategy.