Break Open MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant
Released	2002-10-07
Set symbol
Set name	Onslaught
Set code	ONS
Number	190
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Alex Horley-Orlandelli

Key Takeaways

Break Open creates an element of surprise, potentially flipping the game in your favor.
Strategic use at instant speed allows flexibility and disruption during critical phases.
Requires careful consideration due to its specific mana cost and discard requirement.

Text of card

Turn target face-down creature an opponent controls face up.

There are two ways to resolve puzzling situations: thoughtful contemplation or force. After thoughtful contemplation, most barbarians choose force.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Break Open facilitates card advantage through its potential to reveal a hidden asset on the battlefield. This surprise element can turn the tide by transforming an underestimated card into a formidable threat, effectively adding value to your hand without drawing.

Resource Acceleration: The ability to unleash an entrapped permanent can act as a form of resource acceleration. By liberating a powerful creature or an essential enchantment, you’re effectively accelerating your board presence and strategic options without the need for additional mana investment.

Instant Speed: As an instant-speed spell, Break Open allows for strategic flexibility during gameplay. You have the option to disrupt an opponent’s strategies at the most opportune moment, or simply wait and utilize your mana elsewhere if a more pressing threat or opportunity arises.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Break Open necessitates discarding a card to activate its abilities. This can backfire if your hand is already depleted, forcing you to part ways with valuable cards you’d rather keep for later stages of the game.

Specific Mana Cost: With a reliance on red mana to cast, Break Open limits flexibility. Its requirement of a particular mana type restricts it from being effortlessly incorporated into multi-color decks that may not specialize in red mana sources or have ready access to them.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Priced at two red mana, Break Open’s casting cost might be too steep considering its situational benefit. Players may find themselves investing in a higher cost for an effect that isn’t guaranteed to turn the tide of the game, especially when other more versatile or lower-cost cards could offer immediate and guaranteed benefits to their strategy.

Reasons to Include Break Open in Your Collection

Versatility: Break Open stands out for its ability to flip morph creatures at instant speed. This function can be a game-changer in decks that exploit surprise elements or require fast responses to battlefield conditions.

Combo Potential: This card can synergize with strategies revolving around morph abilities, turning unsuspecting morphed creatures into formidable threats at critical moments or disrupting opponent tactics by revealing their own morphed creatures prematurely.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where morph tactics are prevalent or decks centered around sneaky, face-down creature strategies are common, Break Open might play a pivotal role. Its presence can force opponents to reconsider their approach to using morph creatures, giving you a potential strategic edge.

How to Break Open the Card

Break Open is an intriguing spell in MTG that manipulates the battlefield in ways that can be both beneficial or detrimental. The key to countering this card lies in timing and understanding the nature of morphed creatures. Unlike spells that outright kill or negate creatures, Break Open flips a morphed creature face up, potentially disrupting your opponent’s strategic setups. Therefore, the best approach to defeating Break Open is to minimize the use of morph creatures in your deck or to carefully plan when to play them.

It’s also worth noting that Break Open can backfire if your opponent targets a morph creature with a powerful flip effect that can work in your favor. In this regard, one could use Break Open to their own advantage, turning the tides by cleverly choosing which morph to unveil. Decks that lack morph creatures or that have abilities that trigger upon being turned face up can inherently sidestep Break Open’s effect, making the card less of a threat.

Additionally, keeping up instant-speed removal or counterspells to address unwanted creatures that may appear upon the action of Break Open ensures that one stays in control of the game. With these strategies, one can effectively render Break Open a much less daunting card to face.

Cards like Break Open

Break Open is a unique spell that offers an element of surprise in Magic: The Gathering. It shares similarities with cards like Turn to Frog, which also has the ability to affect the attributes of a creature. However, Break Open distinctively does not alter a creature’s stats but rather focuses on reversing morph changes by flipping face-down creatures to face-up. While Turn to Frog does not interact with the morph mechanic, it transforms a target creature into a harmless 1/1 until end of turn, removing all abilities in the process.

Another card in the realm of transformative spells is Polymorphist’s Jest, where numerous creatures are affected simultaneously, turning them into 1/1 Frogs without any abilities. Again, Break Open diverges as it is a pinpoint spell with a reactive nature, designed to disrupt opponent’s strategies with morphed creatures. Despite its potential to unveil hidden threats or allies, Break Open’s restriction to only interact with face-down creatures makes it more of a situational spell than the versatile mass transformation provided by Jest.

Ultimately, while Break Open may not be as broadly applicable as some transformation or morph-interacting spells, it stands out by providing a strategic counterplay to morph-centric decks, cementing its position as a tactically intriguing choice in certain Magic: The Gathering matchups.

Cards similar to Break Open by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Break Open MTG card by a specific set like Onslaught, 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 Break Open and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Break Open has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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