Discard

Discard is a mechanic which takes cards from a player's hand and puts them in their graveyard. Discard is in the black part of the color pie. Discard spells are more often at sorcery speed, a few have been printed at instant speed. The target of a discard spell more often gets to choose which cards to discard. Cards which give the choice to the discard spell's caster cost more, as do cards which force a random discard. Random discard spells are said to be "unfun", so less of them have been made. The creature type Spectres are famous for causing players to discard cards when they are unblocked.

List of discard instants and sorceries

Instants

One card

• Dismal Failure — their choice and counter spell
• Funeral Charm — their choice
• Piracy Charm — their choice

Two cards

• Esper Charm — their choice - tri-modal spell
• Haunting Hymn — their choice - If played during your main phase, then they discard four cards.

Sorceries

One card

• Blackmail — they reveal three cards, you choose one and that card is discarded.
• Brainbite — your choice + draw a card
• Brain Pry — name a nonland card, if its in that player's hand they discard a card with that name. If they can't, you draw a card.
• Coercion — your choice
• Cry of Contrition — their choice - Cry of Contrition has haunt, when the creature it haunts is put into a graveyard, target player discards a card.
• Desecrated Earth — their choice + destroy one of their lands
• Distress — nonland card of your choice
• Duress — nonland-noncreature card of your choice
• Encroach — nonbasic land of your choice
• Flay — randomly - unless they pay , they discard another card randomly
• Horrifying Revelation — their choice & they mill their top card of their library
• Hypnotic Cloud — their choice - If kicker cost of is paid then they discard three cards instead.
• Inquisition of Kozilek — your choice of nonland card with converted mana cost or less
• Mind Knives — randomly
• Mind Peel — their choice - Buyback
• Mind Ravel — their choice - Slowtrip
• Mire's Toll — your choice of 1 of X cards revealed from their hand where X is the number of swamps you control
• Nightmare Void — your choice - Dredge 2
• Ostracize — your choice of a creature
• Piracy Charm — their choice - tri-modal spell
• Psychic Miasma — their choice, if its a land, return this card to your hand.
• Psychic Spear — your choice of a Spirit or Arcane card
• Pulling Teeth — their choice - Clash if you win, then two cards instead.
• Pulse of the Dross — they reveal three cards, you choose one of those cards. If that player has more cards in hand than you, return Pulse of the Dross to its owner's hand.
• Raven's Crime — their choice - Retrace
• Resounding Scream — their choice or two cards if cycled for .
• River's Grasp — Template:Ub your choice of a nonland card if was spent to play River's Grasp.
• Shattered Dreams — artifact card of your choice
• Skull Fracture — - Flashback
• Smallpox — each player loses 1 life, discards 1 card, sacrifices 1 creature and 1 land.
• Specter's Wail — randomly
• Surging Dementia — their choice - Ripple 4
• Syphon Mind — each other player discards a card and you draw a card for each card discarded this way.
• Talara's Bane — your choice of green or white creature card and you gain life equal to that creature card's toughness.
• Thoughtseize — your choice of nonland card and you lose 2 life
• Unhinge — their choice - Cantrip
• Unmask — your choice - (alternate casting cost of removing a black card in your hand from the game)
• Venarian Glimmer — your choice of a nonland card with converted mana cost less than X.

Two cards

• Blightning — their choice and deals 3 damage.
• Bog Down — their choice - If kicker cost of sacrificing a land is paid then they discard three cards instead.
• Chain of Smog — their choice - that player may copy this spell and may choose a new target for that copy.
• Extortion — your choice
• Fill with Fright — their choice - Scry 2
• Hymn to Tourach — randomly
• Mind Rot — their choice
• Noggin Whack — they reveal three cards, you choose two of those cards.
• Splitting Headache — their choice or, your choice for one then their choice for the other.
• Stupor — one randomly, one their choice
• Tendrils of Despair — &sacrifice a creature; their choice
• Unburden — their choice - Cycling
• Unnerve — each opponent, their choice
• Waking Nightmare — their choice - Arcane
• Wrench Mind — their choice of two cards unless they discard an artifact card

Three cards

• Burning Inquiry — - each player draws three cards, then discards three cards at random.
• Cruel Ultimatum — - their choice and they sacrifice a creature and lose 5 life while the caster returns a creature from their graveyard to their hand, draws three cards then gains 5 life.
• Delirium Skeins — each player
• Fugure — their choice
• Mindstab — their choice - Suspend 4 -
• Three Tragedies — their choice - Arcane

Variable cards

• Cabal Therapy — name a nonland card, target player discards all cards with that name. Also has flashback (sacrifice a creature).
• Cabal Conditioning — any number of players each discards cards from their hand equal to the highest converted mana cost among permanents you control.
• Death Cloud — each player loses X life, discards X cards, sacrifices X creatures and X lands.
• Hint of Insanity — all nonland cards with the same name as another card in their hand
• Ill-Gotten Gains — each player discards their hand then puts up to three cards from their graveyard into their hand.
• Last Rites — you discard any number of cards from your hand, then you choose a nonland card for each card to discard of target player
• Mind Burst — their choice of X cards where X is one plus the number of Mind Burst cards in all graveyards.
• Mind Extraction — you sacrifice a creature, target player reveals their hand and discards all cards of each of the sacrificed creatures colors.
• Mind Shatter — X cards at random
• Mind Sludge — target player discards a card from their hand for each swamp you control.
• Mind Twist — randomly discard X cards
• Mind Warp — your choice of X cards
• Noxious Vapors — each player reveals their cards and choose one card of each color, then discards all other nonland cards
• Persecute — choose a color, target player discards all cards of the chosen color.
• Pox — each player loses 1/3 of their life, discards 1/3 of their cards, sacrifices 1/3 of their creatures and 1/3 of their lands. Round each loss up.
• Sink into Takenuma — return any number of swamps you control to their owner's hand, target player discards a card for each swamp returned this way.
• Tyrranize — Template:BrTemplate:Br they discard their hand unless they pay 7 life.
• Voices from the Void — domain on caster's lands, their choice.
• Wistful Thinking — they draw two cards, then discard (up to) four cards, their choice.

Creatures which cause discard

• Bala Ged Thief — - one your choice pulled from a set of X cards in their hand where X is the number of Ally creatures you control
• Bloodhusk Ritualist — - their choice for each time it was kicked. Multikicker
• Chandra Ablaze — - Remove 2 loyalty counters, all palyers discard hand, then draw 3 cards
• Cinderhaze Wretch — - : Their choice, only during your turn.
• Liliana Vess — - Add 1 loyalty counter, their choice
• Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker — their choice seven cards
• Noggle Ransacker — Template:Ur - when this comes into play, each player draws two cards then discards a card at random.
• Riptide Pilferer — - their choice, also has morph
• Scandalmonger — - target player discards a card, their choice. Any player may play this ability when they could play a sorcery.
• Slavering Nulls — - if it deals damage to a player and you control a swamp, their choice

Rats

Some rats cause discard to their opponents and mostly when they enter the battlefield, some rats force discard when combat damage occurs.

• Earsplitting Rats — - when this enters the battlefield, each player discards a card, their choice
• Hellhole Rats — - when this enters the battlefield, target player discards a card, their choice
• Nezumi Bone-Reader — - , sacrifice a creature, target player discards a card (activate this ability only any time you could play a sorcery), their choice
• Nezumi Shortfang — - , target opponent discards a card, their choice, then if that player has no cards in hand, flip Nezumi Shortfang
• Okiba-Gang Shinobi — - when this deals damage to a player, that player discards two cards, their choice
• Ravenous Rats — - when this enters the battlefield, target opponent discards a card, their choice
• Rotting Rats — - when this enters the battlefield, each player discards a card, their choice
• Sanity Gnawers — - when this enters the battlefield, target player discards a card at random
• Stronghold Rats — - when this deals combat damage to a player, each player discards a card, their choice

Specters

Specters are flying creatures and the most famous for causing opponents to discard when they aren't blocked.

• Abyssal Specter — 2/3 - their choice
• Blazing Specter — 2/2 - their choice, also has haste
• Blizzard Specter — 2/3 - their choice or force them to return a permanent they control to its owner's hand
• Doomsday Specter — 2/3 - your choice, also has gating
• Entropic Specter — */* - their choice, has power / toughness equal to the number of cards in target opponent's hand
• Guul Draz Specter — 2/2 - their choice
• Hollow Specter — 2/2 - pay , that player reveals X cards from their hand, you choose one of those revealed.
• Hypnotic Specter — 2/2 - randomly
• Sedraxis Specter — 3/2 - their choice, also has unearth
• Shimian Specter — 2/2 - nonland, your choice, removes all cards with same name from hand, library, graveyard
• Silent Specter — 4/4 - two cards their choice

Auras

Enchant Creature

• Strands of Undeath — - when this enters the battlefield, two cards, their choice

The following auras enchanted on creatures cause opponents to discard when they aren't blocked.

• Cloak of Confusion — - prevent combat damage to force discard of one card, random
• Elder Mastery — - two cards their choice
• Helm of Ghastlord — Template:Ub - if enchanted creature is black, one card, their choice

Artifacts which cause discard

• Disrupting Scepter — - , - their choice
• Necrogen Spellbomb — - , Sacrifice this - their choice
• Scepter of Fugue — - , - their choice
• Specter's Shroud — - Equipment with Equip - if a player is damaged by a creature equiped with this, their choice. The name Specter's Shroud is an homage to the numerous Specter creatures that cause discard if they attack and are unblocked.

Notes

In the above list; "their choice" means the target player gets to choose which cards to discard, "your choice" means the person casting the spell gets to choose.