Chaosphere MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Rare
Type	World Enchantment
Released	1996-10-08
Set symbol
Set name	Mirage
Set code	MIR
Number	164
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Steve Luke

Key Takeaways

Chaosphere offers game-changing combat dynamics, potentially giving players card advantage and beneficial trades.
Instant speed application of Chaosphere can catch opponents off-guard, leading to misallocated defenses.
While potent, its specific mana requirements and discard costs require careful deck construction.

Text of card

Creatures with flying cannot block creatures without flying. Creatures without flying can block creatures with flying.

"I dance the nothing dance, / Feet in the air, knives in the ground." —Femeref chant

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Chaosphere presents a unique strategic benefit by enabling a shift in combat dynamics, effectively granting your creatures evasion against traditional defenders. This can translate into card advantage as it allows your attackers to bypass potential blockers, enabling more damage to connect and preserving your board state.

Resource Acceleration: While Chaosphere itself doesn’t produce mana or tokens, its application can accelerate your game by forcing opponents to reconsider their resource allocation. Opponents might need to invest more into their defenses or find alternative ways to deal with flying attackers, potentially disrupting their mana curve and advancement.

Instant Speed: The enchantment’s ability to alter the rules of engagement at instant speed means you can deploy it as a combat trick. Play it right before declaring attackers to surprise an unprepared opponent. This can cause them to misallocate resources or miss opportunities for optimal plays, giving you the upper hand.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Chaosphere can set the pace of the game in your favor, it requires you to maintain a card-drawing mechanism to counteract the disadvantage of potential card discard to activate its costs or abilities.

Specific Mana Cost: Chaosphere’s mana cost demands both red and generic mana, which can limit its inclusion to decks that are able to produce both types of mana without inconsistency in the early game.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its requirement of three mana to cast, Chaosphere may be considered a significant investment, particularly when there are other cards at similar or lower costs that could also influence combat or provide different strategic advantages.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Chaosphere offers unique gameplay advantages by altering the rules of engagement in any deck that thrives on combat shenanigans. Its ability to ensure your creatures can only be blocked by walls or flying creatures makes it an essential addition for decks that aim to deal damage through direct attacks.

Combo Potential: This enchantment pairs exceptionally well with cards that limit or remove flying capabilities, creating a near-unstoppable force as your creatures become nearly unblockable. Integrating Chaosphere into your deck can catch opponents off-guard, tilting the battlefield in your favor.

Meta-Relevance: In metagames heavy with flyer-based strategies, Chaosphere levels the playing field. Its role isn’t just defensive, however; it actively disrupts traditional chump blocking tactics, forcing opponents to adapt quickly or succumb to your unrelenting assaults.

How to beat

Chaosphere is one of those intriguing enchantments in Magic: The Gathering that completely shifts the dynamics of creature combat. Its ability to allow creatures with flying to block only creatures with flying, while ground creatures must block if able, turns the traditional rules of engagement on their head. This change in combat strategy can catch many players off guard, as it disrupts the protective value their flying creatures usually provide.

To counteract Chaosphere, it’s essential to adapt your strategy. Including removal spells that can target enchantments, such as Disenchant or Naturalize, provides a direct answer to Chaosphere. Alternatively, decks that focus less on flying creatures and more on versatile creatures with reach or spells that grant reach temporarily can mitigate the disruptiveness of Chaosphere. Having a suite of instant-speed interactions can also help navigate around the combat constraints imposed by this card, allowing you to remove or neutralize threats before they become an issue.

Ultimately, flexibility in deck building and game play is key when facing off against Chaosphere. Prepare for the unexpected and keep your options open to ensure that this rule-bending enchantment doesn’t catch you in its chaotic grip.

Cards like Chaosphere

Chaosphere is a unique enchantment in the MTG universe, providing an intriguing twist on combat mechanics. Its closest relatives in terms of altering battlefield dynamics are cards like Gravity Well, which forces all creatures to lose flying during attacks. Chaosphere takes it a step further by allowing all creatures to block flyers, turning the aerial advantage on its head.

Another card worth mentioning is War Cadence. This card manipulates combat by using mana to dictate which creatures can block. While not directly influencing flying creatures, War Cadence shares Chaosphere’s disruptive spirit, shaking up the usual combat formula. There’s also Goblin War Drums, which gives your creatures menace, indirectly affecting blocking just as Chaosphere does.

Though each of these cards offers different approaches to combat, Chaosphere stands out for its ability to level the aerial playing field, a strategic bend that can catch many opponents off guard. This trait alone boosts its profile among MTG cards focused on altering the rules of engagement.

Cards similar to Chaosphere by color, type and mana cost

Curse of Hospitality - MTG Card versions

Anax, Hardened in the Forge - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Chaosphere MTG card by a specific set like Mirage, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Chaosphere and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Chaosphere has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Chaosphere card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2008-10-01	This has the supertype world. When a world permanent enters the battlefield, any world permanents that were already on the battlefield are put into their owners’ graveyards. This is a state-based action called the “world rule.” The new world permanent stays on the battlefield. If two world permanents enter the battlefield at the same time, they’re both put into their owners’ graveyards.