Demonic Consultation

Demonic Consultation debuted in Ice Age in June 1995. ICE #121 is an uncommon illustrated by Rob Alexander and is nonfoil only. The number is a catalogue identifier rather than a printed modern collector-number line on the original card.

Modern references: SLD #1127 is the kozyndan version; MB2 #181 credits Chris Seaman. Secret Lair Countdown #4 supplies Edward Steed's poster in nonfoil or foil, while #31 is its separate halo-foil entry.

Demonic Consultation costs {B} and is an instant. You choose a card name as it resolves, exile the top six cards of your library, then reveal cards until you find the chosen name. The matching card goes into your hand; the other cards revealed this way are exiled.

A copy of the named card among those first six is already exiled and cannot satisfy the later reveal process. If no matching card remains to be revealed, the process can exile your entire library. An empty library alone does not immediately lose the game, but attempting to draw from it normally does.

The spell has no targets and affects its controller. You cannot use it to empty an opponent's library, and a target-changing effect such as Deflecting Swat cannot redirect that instruction to another player. These details distinguish it from the much more straightforward searches on Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor.

ICE #121 fixes the original Rob Alexander artwork and 1995 frame. The catalogue also contains a Masters Edition II digital release. That belongs to the card's release history, but it is not another original paper printing to compare with an Ice Age copy.

Secret Lair #1127 arrived in December 2022 as part of Special Guest: Kozyndan: Another Story. It changes the artist to kozyndan and uses borderless presentation, with nonfoil and foil editions. That is a substantial artistic change from merely reprinting the Ice Age image.

Mystery Booster 2 in 2024 introduces Chris Seaman's illustration at #181 in the Future Sight frame. It is a later use of the frame, not an appearance in the original Future Sight set. The MTG.wtf catalogue record identifies the treatment and catalogue number.

The November 2025 Secret Lair Countdown entries add Edward Steed's poster artwork: #4 in nonfoil or foil, and #31 in halo foil only. SLC is the set code for those records, whereas the kozyndan release uses SLD.

Alexander's Ice Age card is the historical reference. The kozyndan #1127 changes both the artist and the borderless presentation, so it is worth considering as an illustration rather than only a premium release label.

Seaman's MB2 #181 pairs another image with the recognisable Future Sight frame. Wizards explains the frame's return in What's Inside Mystery Booster 2?. That frame can fit a collection with other reprints using the same visual theme without pretending the card first appeared in 2007.

Steed's SLC #4 and #31 keep the poster artwork while changing the finish. They therefore make a useful comparison after you have already decided you like that artist. Switching from one of those entries to SLD #1127 changes the illustration and product family as well.

The original Ice Age #121 has no official foil version. For a later foil option, kozyndan's SLD #1127 and Seaman's MB2 #181 each have nonfoil and foil availability in their catalogue records.

For Steed's poster, compare SLC #4 against #31. The first record has nonfoil and foil options; the second is halo foil only. A seller's generic description of a foil Countdown copy does not by itself distinguish those two records.

Keep SLC and SLD in any saved reference: the similar names do not make them the same set. Compare physical photographs when the halo surface is the attraction. ManaScout's shimmer is illustrative and cannot recreate the actual pattern, surface condition or appearance of an offered copy.

For the original: choose ICE #121 and the Alexander illustration. Confirm the physical edition rather than expecting a modern printed collector-number line.

For a playing budget: compare available nonfoils across Ice Age and the later entries in similar condition. There is no need to assume that a later frame is automatically dearer or cheaper; use current listings.

For a particular frame: compare the borderless kozyndan #1127 with Future Sight-frame MB2 #181. The choice changes the artist, so judge the whole image as well as its surrounding layout.

For poster art or a special surface: start with SLC #4 if Steed's illustration is what you want. Compare halo #31 separately if the finish itself justifies the additional spending for you.

Because the selected paper catalogue is compact, compare all four artists before choosing a finish. Start with the original beside the kozyndan and Seaman versions, then add the poster. Only the poster pair isolates a normal-versus-halo finish decision without changing the artist and product family at the same time.

The live explorer may highlight a ManaScout Pick. Treat it as a visual starting point and compare the exact printing, finish and available price data before deciding.

Demonic Tutor — Compare a direct-to-hand search without Consultation's exile sequence.

Vampiric Tutor — Explore another one-mana instant that instead places the selected card on top.

Mystic Remora — Compare another Ice Age original with modern alternative artists and frames.

Deflecting Swat — Understand why choosing new targets does not redirect a spell that has none.

Source links updated 5 November 2026; replacement support uses non-marketplace catalogue or official product references.

Printing details reviewed on 2 November 2026. The shortlist links to individual MTG.wtf catalogue records; official Wizards sources support the rules and product treatments. The live explorer retrieves its records and price fields from Scryfall.

MTG.wtf: original printing and rules clarifications.

MTG.wtf: kozyndan drop and finishes.

MTG.wtf: Mystery Booster 2 edition, number and artist.

Wizards: Future Sight frame return.

MTG.wtf: separate halo-foil poster record.