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  3. Norman Osborn // Green Goblin

Command zone

Norman Osborn // Green Goblin

Norman Osborn // Green Goblin

Legendary Creature — Human Scientist Villain // Legendary Creature — Goblin Human Villain

Norman Osborn wants a deck that throws away its own cards on purpose for a reward. It also works in a deck built around Goblins, Humans or Scientists.

  • Mana cost1 genericblue
  • Blue, Black, Red ()
  • Power / toughness1 / 1
  • RarityMythic

Norman Osborn can't be blocked.

Whenever Norman Osborn deals combat damage to a player, he connives. (Draw a card, then discard a card. If you discarded a nonland card, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.)

1 genericblueblackred: Transform Norman Osborn. Activate only as a sorcery.

//

Flying, menace

Spells you cast from your graveyard cost 2 generic less to cast.

Goblin Formula — Each nonland card in your graveyard has mayhem. The mayhem cost is equal to its mana cost. (You may cast a card from your graveyard for its mayhem cost if you discarded it this turn. Timing rules still apply.)

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Archetypes
Themes

Cards That Fit Norman Osborn

Picked for what they do in Norman Osborn's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Norman Osborn's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for Norman Osborn

explain how Norman Osborn works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

A modal double-faced card can be transformed or be put onto the battlefield transformed. This is a change from previous rules. If an effect instructs you to transform a modal double-faced card on the battlefield, it transforms only if its other face has a permanent type (that is, if its other face isn't an instant or sorcery). If it doesn't, it simply won't transform. Similarly, if an effect attempts to put a modal double-faced card onto the battlefield transformed, it will enter transformed if its back face has a permanent type. If it doesn't, it will simply stay in its current zone.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

Each double-faced card has an icon in the top-left corner of each face. For modal double-faced cards in this set, these icons are a single black triangle for the front face, and a double white triangle for the back face.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

Each face of a double-faced card has its own set of characteristics: name, types, subtypes, abilities, and so on. While a double-faced card is on the stack or battlefield, consider only the characteristics of the face that's currently up. The other set of characteristics is ignored.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

Green Goblin's cost-reduction ability doesn't itself allow you to cast any spells from your graveyard. It only reduces the cost of spells that another effect (such as that of Green Goblin's last ability) has allowed you to cast.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

Green Goblin's cost-reduction ability reduces only the generic mana component of a spell's cost. For example, if you cast a spell from your graveyard that would normally cost {1}{B}, you will have to pay {B} to cast it.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

If a resolving spell or ability instructs a specific creature to connive but that creature has left the battlefield, the creature still connives. If you discard a nonland card this way, you won't put a +1/+1 counter on anything. Abilities that trigger "when [that creature] connives" will trigger.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

If an effect allows you to play a land or cast a spell from among a group of cards, you may play or cast a modal double-faced card with any face that fits the criteria of that effect.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

If an effect allows you to put a card with particular characteristics onto the battlefield without instructing you to play or cast it, you consider only the characteristics of a modal double-faced card's front face to see if that card qualifies. If it does, it enters the battlefield with its front face up.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

If an effect instructs a player to choose a card name, the name of either face may be chosen. If that effect or a linked ability refers to a spell with the chosen name being cast and/or a land with the chosen name being played, it considers only the chosen name, not the other face's name.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

If no card is discarded, most likely because that player's hand is empty and an effect says they can't draw cards, the conniving creature does not receive a +1/+1 counter.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

In the Commander variant, a double-faced card's color identity is determined by the mana costs and mana symbols in the rules text of both faces combined. If either face has a color indicator or basic land type, those are also considered.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

Once an ability that causes a creature to connive begins to resolve, no player may take any other actions until it's done. Notably, opponents can't try to remove the conniving creature after you discard a nonland card but before it receives a counter.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

One or both faces of a double-faced card may include a reminder about what's on the other face. This reminder text has no effect on gameplay.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

The mana value of a modal double-faced card is based on the characteristics of the face that's being considered. On the stack or the battlefield, consider whichever face is up. In all other zones, consider only the front face. This is different than how the mana value of other double-faced cards is determined.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

To determine whether it is legal to play a modal double-faced card, consider only the characteristics of the face you're playing and ignore the other face's characteristics.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Sep 2025

While a double-faced card isn't on the stack or battlefield, consider only the characteristics of its front face.

16 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Norman Osborn, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryUBRPlayers write colors as letters: U for blue, B for black, R for red. Blue is U because B was already taken by black.Madness/DiscardDiscard decks throw away their own cards on purpose and play cards that reward each discard. Cards with madness can even be cast for a different, usually cheaper, cost at the moment you discard them.Open the Madness/Discard pageLootingDraws and discards in the same breath. Faithless Looting, Frantic Search. It does not gain you cards. It improves the ones you have, and fills your graveyard on purpose, which is exactly what a reanimator card like Animate Dead wants.Open the Looting pageRecursionBrings cards back from the graveyard: to your hand, to the battlefield, or letting them be cast again from where they lie. Eternal Witness, Reanimate, VictimizeOpen the Recursion pageSaboteurTriggers when a creature deals combat damage to a player, so the reward comes from connecting rather than from the damage itself. Evasion makes these far more reliable. Ragavan, Nimble PilfererOpen the Saboteur pageMana SinkGives you somewhere useful to spend spare mana, usually through an ability you can activate again and again. Rogue's Passage, Mind StoneOpen the Mana Sink pageGoblinsGoblins are almost all red: small, cheap and plentiful, and many make more Goblins or are sacrificed for a quick effect.Open the Goblins page+1/+1 CountersPuts +1/+1 counters on creatures, permanently raising their power and toughness. Unlike a temporary boost that wears off at end of turn, these markers stay put and stack up over a long game. Hardened Scales, The Great HengeOpen the +1/+1 Counters pageEvasionAn ability that makes a creature hard to block, so its attacks reach the player. Flying, menace, landwalk and plain 'can't be blocked' are the common kinds.Open the Evasion pageCost ModificationChanges what a spell costs to cast: cheaper for you, or more expensive for everyone. It is the broad family; Cost Reducer and Spell Tax say which direction a given card goes. Herald's Horn, Foundry InspectorOpen the Cost Modification pageCost ReducerMakes your own spells cheaper to cast. A discount every turn adds up faster than a single burst of mana. Herald's Horn, Foundry InspectorOpen the Cost Reducer page