What can you sacrifice for Bargain in MTG?

You can sacrifice an artifact, enchantment, or token to pay a Bargain cost. Creatures that aren't tokens don't qualify, nor do lands or planeswalkers. Token creatures work because they're tokens, regardless of their creature type.

Is Bargain mandatory or optional?

Bargain is completely optional. You can cast any spell with Bargain without paying the additional cost — you just miss the upgraded effect. Only if you choose to sacrifice an artifact, enchantment, or token is the spell considered 'bargained.'

If a bargained spell is countered, do I get my sacrifice back?

No. The sacrifice happens as an additional cost when you cast the spell, before it resolves. If the spell is later countered, you don't get the sacrificed permanent back. This is the risk of paying any additional cost in Magic.

If I copy a bargained spell, is the copy also bargained?

Yes. If you copy a spell that was bargained, the copy inherits the bargained status. You don't sacrifice another permanent — the copy is simply treated as having been bargained automatically.

What set introduced the Bargain mechanic?

Bargain was introduced in Wilds of Eldraine (WOE), released in September 2023. It was designed as a flavor-forward mechanic to reflect the fairytale theme of the set, where deals and sacrifices carry a narrative weight.

How is Bargain different from Kicker?

Both are optional additional costs that upgrade a spell's effect. The key difference is what you pay: Kicker typically costs extra mana, while Bargain costs a permanent — specifically an artifact, enchantment, or token. This means Bargain rewards decks that naturally generate those types of permanents rather than decks that simply hold open mana.

Bargain: MTG Mechanic Guide (Wilds of Eldraine)

Imagine a deal with a witch at the edge of a dark forest: you give something up, and in return, you get a little more than you bargained for. That's the flavor beating at the heart of Bargain, the signature mechanic of Wilds of Eldraine (2023). It's an optional sacrifice that upgrades your spell - and the design space it opens up is genuinely wide.

What is Bargain?

Bargain is a keyword ability introduced in Wilds of Eldraine (WOE). When you cast a spell with Bargain, you have the option to sacrifice an artifact, enchantment, or token as an additional cost. If you do, the spell has been bargained, and a linked ability triggers an upgraded effect.

It is, in mechanical terms, a variant of Kicker - an optional additional cost that unlocks a bonus. The difference is in what you pay. Kicker usually costs mana. Bargain costs a permanent you already control, which means it rewards you for having artifacts, enchantments, or token producers in play. That design choice gives Bargain a distinct texture: it's about what you already have on the battlefield, not how much mana you're holding open.

Lore aside: The fairytale setting of Eldraine is full of dire bargains and Faustian deals. Mechanically and narratively, Bargain earns its name - you're always giving something up to gain something better.

Bargain rules

Here's the core rule, from the Comprehensive Rules (November 14, 2025 - Edge of Eternities):

"Bargain is a static ability that functions while the spell with bargain is on the stack. 'Bargain' means 'As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may sacrifice an artifact, enchantment, or token.'" - CR 702.166a

Let's unpack the key points.

Paying the Bargain cost

Bargain is optional. You don't have to sacrifice anything - you can cast the spell without it and simply miss the upgrade. When you choose to pay the Bargain cost, you sacrifice an artifact, enchantment, or token at the time you're paying costs (as part of casting the spell, not after it resolves).

The spell is then considered bargained, and any linked ability that checks "if this spell was bargained" applies on resolution.

Targets on bargained spells

Some spells only have certain targets if they're bargained. In those cases, you don't choose those targets at all unless you're paying the Bargain cost. You also can't bargain those spells unless you have valid targets available.

Rules note: CR 702.166d covers this edge case precisely: if a bargained effect includes targets, those targets are only chosen if the spell is actually being bargained. No targets means no bargain, and no bargain means no targets.

Copying a bargained spell

If you copy a spell that was bargained, the copy is also considered bargained. You don't sacrifice anything again - the copy inherits the bargained status from the original.

What can you sacrifice?

The three valid sacrifice types are:

Artifacts - equipment, vehicles, any artifact permanent you control
Enchantments - auras, sagas, non-Aura enchantments
Tokens - any token permanent, regardless of type

Notice that creatures, lands, and planeswalkers don't qualify on their own. A creature token works because it's a token; a non-token creature doesn't work at all. This matters when you're building around Bargain: you want cheap, expendable permanents of these three types, not just any old board presence.

Strategy

The core question with Bargain is: what are you sacrificing? A Bargain spell that costs the same mana whether you bargain it or not is essentially asking, "do you have a spare artifact, enchantment, or token lying around?" If the answer is yes, the upgrade is free value. If the answer is no, you cast the spell for its base effect.

Building around Bargain

The cards that enable Bargain most naturally are token producers. A Clue, Food, or Treasure token - all of which show up heavily in the Eldraine environment - gives you a cheap sacrifice target without costing you a meaningful board presence. Treasure tokens in particular are flexible: you can spend them for mana or pitch one to bargain a spell.

Enchantments can also serve as fodder, especially ones that have already done their job. A Saga that has ticked through all its chapters and is about to leave anyway becomes a free Bargain payment on the turn it would have been sacrificed regardless.

Cost reduction is part of the design space

Most Kicker effects add an effect on resolution. Bargain does too - but in a few cases, the upgrade is cost reduction rather than a bonus effect. Ice Out is the clearest example: bargaining it makes it cost {1} less, turning what would be a three-mana Counterspell into a two-mana one. That's significant, and it means Bargain-payoff cards aren't all in the "bonus effect" template.

Playing against Bargain

When you're playing against Bargain decks, sacrificing happens as the spell is cast, before it resolves. You can't respond to the sacrifice by destroying the artifact or enchantment being sacrificed - it's already gone by the time priority returns.

However, you can counter the spell. If a Bargain spell is countered, the sacrifice still happened. You don't get the permanent back. This is the familiar risk of paying additional costs: you're committed to the payment regardless of whether the spell resolves.

Rules note: This is the same rule that governs any additional cost. The cost is paid, then the spell is on the stack. If the spell is countered after that, the cost doesn't refund.

Multi-Bargain and repeatable Bargain

Most Bargain spells have a single "sacrifice once" trigger. But the design space stretches further. Devouring Sugarmaw (WOE) asks for a Bargain every upkeep, which means you need a steady supply of sacrifice fodder to keep feeding it. Lich-Knight's Conquest and Malevolent Witchkite function like Multikicker equivalents of Bargain, allowing you to sacrifice multiple permanents for stacking effects.

Notable Bargain cards

Archon's Glory

Archon's Glory ({W}) is one of the clearest illustrations of how Bargain works at its simplest. Unbargained, it gives a creature +2/+2 until end of turn - a decent combat trick for one mana. Bargained, it also grants flying and lifelink until end of turn, which is a dramatic upgrade. A 1/1 lifelink flier in the middle of combat can completely change a race. The spell is already playable without the bonus; with it, it's exceptional. That's good keyword design.

Ice Out

Ice Out ({1}{U}{U}) is notable because its Bargain upgrade is cost reduction rather than an added effect. Sacrifice an artifact, enchantment, or token while casting it, and it costs {1} less - so you're countering a spell for {U}{U} instead of {1}{U}{U}. In a format where Counterspell ({U}{U}) is the gold standard, any card that can match that rate with a small condition attached is worth watching. Ice Out rewards blue decks that also run artifact or token strategies.

Torch the Tower

Torch the Tower (WOE) shows the template in action clearly. Unbargained, it deals 2 damage to a creature or planeswalker and exiles it if it would die. Bargained, it deals 3 damage and you scry 1. The exile clause applies either way, which makes it useful against graveyard strategies even without the upgrade. A good example of how base value and bargained value can both be genuinely relevant.

History and design context

Bargain debuted in Wilds of Eldraine (WOE), released in September 2023. It was designed as a flavor-forward mechanic for the set's fairytale theme - every spell with Bargain is, narratively, a deal being struck at a cost.

Mechanically, it sits in a long lineage of "optional additional cost" abilities. Kicker, first seen in Invasion (2000), is the closest predecessor: pay extra mana, get an upgraded effect. Bargain shifts the cost from mana to permanents, which opens up different synergies and deckbuilding constraints.

The decision to restrict the sacrifice to artifacts, enchantments, and tokens - rather than any permanent - was clearly intentional. It protects creatures from becoming universal fuel, and it steers Bargain decks toward specific archetypes: token go-wide strategies, artifact synergy builds, and enchantment-heavy decks that generate their own fodder naturally.

The mechanic also interacts interestingly with go-wide token strategies, since a board full of 1/1s gives you lots of sacrifice options without weakening your attacking force significantly. In Limited, that connection was especially pronounced - creating tokens and then spending them on Bargain spells was a core gameplay loop in WOE draft.

Format check: Bargain cards are legal in any format that includes Wilds of Eldraine or older sets. As of this writing, that includes Standard (through WOE's rotation window), Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, and Vintage. Always check current rotation dates for Standard legality, as sets rotate out over time.