Entwine: The MTG Mechanic Explained
Some mechanics ask you to make a choice. Entwine says: what if you didn't have to?
It's a simple idea with a satisfying payoff. You're casting a modal spell - one that says "Choose one - " - and instead of picking just one effect, you pay a little extra and get everything on the menu. Two effects for one spell, at a price. That trade-off is at the heart of what makes Entwine so interesting to build around.
What is Entwine?
Entwine is a keyword ability that appears on modal instants and sorceries - spells with a "Choose one - " clause. Normally, you pick one of the listed modes when you cast the spell. Entwine gives you a second option: pay an additional cost printed on the card, and you can choose all of the modes instead.
The reminder text puts it plainly: "Choose both if you pay the entwine cost." (In the rare case of a card with more than two modes, you choose all of them.)
Think of it like ordering at a restaurant. You can have the soup or the salad - but for a few extra mana, you can have both.
How Entwine works: the rules
Entwine is a static ability that functions while the spell is on the stack (CR 702.42a). Here's the official definition:
"Entwine [cost]" means "You may choose all modes of this spell instead of just the number specified. If you do, you pay an additional [cost]."
- CR 702.42a
A few important details about how this plays out:
- You decide at cast time. The moment you start casting the spell, you choose whether you're paying the entwine cost. This happens as part of announcing the spell, before any player gets priority.
- Targets for both modes are chosen upfront. If you pay the entwine cost and both modes require targets, you choose all targets as you cast the spell - not one at a time as the modes resolve.
- Modes resolve in order. If the entwine cost was paid, the spell follows the text of each mode in the order it's printed on the card (CR 702.42b).
- It's an additional cost, not an alternative cost. You still pay the spell's base mana cost plus the entwine cost. The entwine cost on Tooth and Nail is
{2}, so the full entwined version costs{5}{G}{G}+{2}={7}{G}{G}.
Rules note: Entwine interacts with effects that copy spells or reduce costs in interesting ways. If a spell is copied, the copy will have both modes chosen if the original did - but the copy doesn't pay the entwine cost again, it just inherits the choices made for the original.
Common misunderstandings
The two things players get wrong most often:
- "Can I pay the entwine cost later?" No. It's decided as you cast the spell. You can't change your mind once the spell is on the stack.
- "Does entwine work with cards that say 'Choose two'?" No - entwine only appears on cards that specify choosing fewer modes than the card offers. Entwine lets you choose all of them.
Strategy: when to pay the entwine cost
The appeal of Entwine is flexibility - but that flexibility has a cost, and whether you pay it depends on the situation at the table.
Getting value without the full cost
Many entwine spells are perfectly good at just one mode. Grab the Reins ({3}{R}) is a fine Threaten effect on its own, letting you steal a creature until end of turn. Journey of Discovery tutors up two basic lands, which is solid ramp. You don't need the second mode to get real use out of these cards.
This is actually a strength, not a limitation. A well-designed entwine card does meaningful work at its base cost and becomes exceptional when entwined. You're never holding a dead card - you're holding a card with an upgrade path.
When to pull the trigger on entwine
Paying the entwine cost is best when:
- You have a mana surplus. Late-game turns where you're sitting on extra mana are exactly when entwining feels free.
- The combined effect creates a blowout. Grab the Reins entwined (
{3}{R}+{2}{R}={5}{R}{R}) lets you steal a creature and immediately fling it at any target for its power in damage. That's frequently a two-for-one or better. - Your opponent can't answer two threats at once. Modal spells with entwine can create awkward situations where responding to one mode doesn't stop the other.
Building around entwine
Entwine rewards decks with:
- Mana acceleration. The more mana you have, the more often you can afford the full treatment.
- Untap effects and extra mana sources. Anything that generates surplus mana turns entwine costs from expensive to free.
- Late-game inevitability plans. Entwine cards often do powerful things when fully paid - search and deploy creatures, draw and reset libraries - that are especially potent in longer games.
In Commander, entwine shines. Games run long, mana rocks pile up, and the premium you pay for both modes becomes trivially affordable by turn eight.
Notable cards with Entwine
Tooth and Nail
Tooth and Nail ({5}{G}{G}) is the most famous entwine card ever printed, and one of the most powerful sorceries in green's history. On its own, each mode is already strong: search up two creatures, or put two creatures from your hand directly onto the battlefield. Entwined for {2} extra - {7}{G}{G} total - it searches and deploys in one motion.
This is a combo finisher. The classic line is: search for Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Xenagos, God of Revels, then immediately put both into play. Emrakul gets haste, doubles in power, attacks, and the game ends. In Modern and Legacy, Tooth and Nail has powered out some of the most spectacular (and occasionally heartbreaking) combo wins you'll see.
Format check: Tooth and Nail is legal in Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, and Pioneer. It's a real competitive card in Modern's Amulet Titan and green ramp strategies.
Grab the Reins
Grab the Reins ({3}{R}) is the kind of entwine card that surprises people. Either mode is playable - Threaten is a real effect, and sacrificing a creature to deal its power to any target can close out games. Entwined, it becomes a devastating instant-speed play: steal their biggest creature and immediately use it as a missile against their face, or take out another blocker.
The fact that it's an instant makes it especially mean. Opponents attacking with a large creature can suddenly find that creature redirected as a last-ditch kill shot.
Blinding Beam
Blinding Beam ({2}{W}) is a deceptively powerful tempo card. Tapping two creatures for {2}{W} is reasonable, and locking a player out of untapping all their creatures is a serious effect. Entwined for just {1} extra, you tap two creatures and prevent the rest from untapping. In aggressive white decks, this is effectively a combat-winning blowout.
Twisted Reflection
Twisted Reflection ({1}{U}) holds a small piece of trivia history: it's the first entwine card with an off-color entwine cost. Both modes are mono-blue effects, but the entwine cost is {B}. Two blue effects combining into something with a black price tag created some interesting deckbuilding tension - and a clean design puzzle. It's a nice piece of design that pushed entwine into new territory.
Temporal Cascade
Temporal Cascade ({5}{U}{U}) is a reset button. Choose one: everyone shuffles their hands and graveyards back into their libraries, or everyone draws seven. Entwined for {2} more, both happen - in that order. The result is that every player draws seven cards from a reshuffled library. That's a table-wide windfall, and it's especially potent when you're in a position to benefit from refilling everyone's hand more than your opponents can.
Unbounded Potential
Unbounded Potential ({1}{W}) is a more recent addition that shows how entwine fits into counter-heavy strategies. Putting +1/+1 counters on creatures is useful; proliferating is useful; doing both in one instant is a meaningful tempo play in any deck built around counters.
Journey of Discovery
Journey of Discovery ({2}{G}) is solid ramp either way - tutoring basics or playing extra lands are both legitimate effects. Entwined for {2}{G} extra, it does both in one card, which in the right green deck is a powerful early acceleration tool.
History of Entwine
Entwine debuted in Mirrodin (MRD, 2003), part of the original Mirrodin block. The set introduced a wide range of artifact-focused mechanics, but entwine stood out as a distinctly spell-based design that rewarded players for having spare mana. The block's general theme of powerful, costly effects fit the mechanic well - Mirrodin was full of cards that did more the more you were willing to invest.
For years after Mirrodin, entwine went quiet. It came back in Modern Horizons (MH1, 2019), Commander 2019 (C19), and Modern Horizons 2 (MH2, 2021) - sets designed for experienced players who appreciate callbacks and pushed card designs. These sets introduced some of the more unusual design territory for the mechanic:
- Kaya's Guile (C19) is the only multicoloured entwine card and the only one with more than two modes: a four-option "choose two" that becomes "choose all four" when entwined.
- Twisted Reflection (MH1) introduced the off-color entwine cost, with two blue effects unlocking a black upgrade.
The mechanic made further appearances in Phyrexia: All Will Be One Commander and Modern Horizons 3 (MH3, 2024), confirming it as a recurring favourite for supplemental and higher-powered sets.
Entwine has never been a Standard mechanic outside of its original Mirrodin block run, which tracks - it plays best in environments where players have deeper card pools and more mana available. It's a mechanic that rewards patience and resources, and both of those things tend to arrive in the late game.
