Gifting in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

Last updated on December 21, 2025

Jolly Gerbils | Illustration by Manuel Castañón

In the dynamic world of Magic: The Gathering, new mechanics often redefine how the game is played. A fascinating addition is the gift mechanic from Bloomburrow, the cutest MTG set ever. Gifts are particularly great for multiplayer formats, and provide players with innovative ways to interact with their opponents.

Let’s examine how this mechanic works, look at the standout cards from Bloomburrow that best utilize this mechanic, and share a Commander decklist that shows gifts in action.

Let's gift going!

How Does Gifting a Card Work?

Scrapshooter | Illustration by Chris Rahn

When you cast a spell with the gift ability, you have the option to promise a gift to an opponent. This promise is made as an additional cost when casting the spell, but the gift isn’t immediately given – for now, it's just promised. In other words, players will know if the gift will be given before the spell resolves.

For permanent spells, the gift is given to the chosen opponent when the permanent enters the battlefield. For instants and sorceries, the gift is given during the spell's resolution, before any of the spell's other effects occur.

The History of the Gift Mechanic in MTG

The gift mechanic debuted in 2024's Bloomburrow, with cards like Kitnap, Parting Gust, Valley Rally, Blooming Blast, Perch Protection, and Octomancer showing it off.

There are 24 cards with gift between the main set and the Commander precons. It is not evergreen, though it could fit the flavor of many different planes. The gift of a tapped fish is certainly Bloomburrow coded, but I think other gifts are definitely on the table in Wizards of the Coast's design department, so maybe we'll get a surprise.

Types of Gifts

Gift mechanics involve different types of rewards depending on the card.

Some gifts involve drawing a card, as seen with Kitnap. Others may create tokens, like a tapped 1/1 blue Fish token from Parting Gust, or a Food token, as seen on Valley Rally.

Gifts can also include creating a Treasure token (providing mana) from Blooming Blast, granting an extra turn from Perch Protection, or generating an 8/8 blue Octopus creature token from Octomancer. Each type of gift provides a unique benefit to the opponent based on the card’s specific gift effect.

Can You Gift to Multiple Opponents?

No, you can only promise a gift to one opponent per spell with the gift ability, even if you have multiple opponents. If you cast several different spells with gift, then you can choose different opponents for each spell, but still only one opponent per gift.

Even when you copy a spell with gift, the gift is promised to the same opponent. That’s because promising the gift is treated as a cost. You only pay the cost once before copying the spell, so the same opponent benefits when the copy and the original resolve.

Is Gifting a Card an Additional Cost?

Yes, promising a gift is an additional cost to casting a spell with gift. This cost is optional and you announce whether you're promising the gift or not when you cast the spell.

Can You Counter Gift?

You can't counter the gift itself. However, if the spell for which the gift was promised is countered, the gift will not be given, and none of the spell’s effects will happen.

Can You Offer the Gift to One Player and Have the Second Effect Target a Different Player?

Yes, you choose which opponent to give the gift to and this is separate from any targeting your spell requires.

Can Gifted Permanents Be Targeted by the Spell With Gift? What if the Card I Gifted them is a Counterspell?

No, they can not target your card with the gifted card because your spell resolves first.

If a spell has targets, you have to choose those targets as you cast the spell. If the gift creates a permanent (like a 1/1 Fish token), it does so upon spell resolution, which comes after the point at which you've already chosen targets for that spell.

What Happens When I Copy a Spell with a Gift?

If you copy a spell for which the gift was promised, the same opponent gets the gift again. In the case of copying a permanent with gift that already exists on the battlefield, no gift can be promised whether or not the gift was given when it was first played.

What is the Difference Between Gift on a Permanent and an Instant or Sorcery?

The promised gift from a permanent is given when the card enters, while the promised gift from an instant or sorcery is given as the spell resolves. The reminder text reads slightly differently on Kitnap and Wear Down and that's to account for the different card types.

Is Gifting a Crime in Magic?

Yes, a gift can be a crime in Magic because the requirement for a crime only needs you to target an opponent's stuff. The promise of a gift is not the crime, but rather the target of the spell.

Gallery and List of Gifting Cards

• Blooming Blast
• Coiling Rebirth
• Consumed by Greed
• Cruelclaw's Heist
• Crumb and Get It
• Dawn's Truce
• Dewdrop Cure
• Into the Flood Maw
• Kitnap
• Long River's Pull
• Longstalk Brawl
• Mind Spiral
• Nocturnal Hunger
• Octomancer
• Parting Gust
• Peerless Recycling
• Perch Protection
• Sazacap's Brew
• Scrapshooter
• Starfall Invocation
• Starforged Sword
• Valley Rally
• Wear Down
• Wildfire Howl

Best Gifting Cards

While there are many types of gifts, Food tokens are often the most tolerable ones to give to your opponents. Giving them a card or a creature token is much more of a cost. Additionally, in a multiplayer format, you can give a gift to an opponent while the effect of your card punishes another, so you often get the full value of the card with little to no drawback.

#5. Perch Protection

Perch Protection offers a unique effect that other cards don’t. It can be used to protect your board and life total while giving another opponent an extra turn, potentially making them a target for the next turn.

#4. Wear Down

Wear Down starts with a good effect, and giving an extra card to an opponent seems fair compared to destroying pesky artifacts or killing enchantments in pairs on the field.

#3. Starfall Invocation

Starfall Invocation is slightly more expensive than other sweepers, but the potential to keep your key creature is great, especially if you elect to let your voltron commander go to the graveyard.

#2. Into the Flood Maw

Into the Flood Maw is cheap and flexible blue instant, and especially effective if you need to knock the counters off of a permanent or need to remove a token.

#1. Dawn’s Truce

Dawn's Truce is a flexible way to protect your creatures, and giving someone a card is often better than losing your entire board from a wipe.

Real quick, there is Jolly Gerbils as a one-off reward and incentive to give the most gifts.

Decklist: Gift in Commander

Phelddagrif | Illustration by Amy Weber

In my mind, there is no better commander for gifting cards than Phelddagrif, a creature widely known for thriving in “group hug” decks. I just happened to put this one together with some old cards that help everyone, like Mikokoro, Center of the Sea and Howling Mine, then added some of the most iconic cards with the gift mechanic.

Wrap Up

Kitnap | Illustration by Irina Nordsol

While gifts can be given to any opponent and are not restricted to multiplayer games, they truly shine in Commander decks, providing more ways to interact with the rest of the table.

What are your thoughts on this Bloomburrow mechanic? Would you like to see more cards featuring it in the future, or would you tweak it to make it better? Let us know in the comments.

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Take care, and see you next time!