Containment Breach MTG Card

Containment Breach - Strixhaven: School of Mages

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Sorcery — Lesson
Released	2021-04-23
Set symbol
Set name	Strixhaven: School of Mages
Set code	STX
Number	125
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Campbell White

Key Takeaways

Provides card advantage by removing artifacts/enchantments and improves draws by thinning the deck.
Offers resource acceleration by ramping up mana access without compromising turn progression.
At instant speed, it presents tactical flexibility when responding to opponent plays.

Text of card

Destroy target artifact or enchantment. If its mana value is 2 or less, create a 1/1 black and green Pest creature token with "When this creature dies, you gain 1 life."

For pest keepers, there's no sound more disheartening than breaking glass.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Containment Breach enables you to efficiently deal with an enchantment or artifact which can not only disrupt your opponent’s strategy but also sifts through your library by searching for a basic land card, effectively thinning your deck and improving the quality of your draws.

Resource Acceleration: By fetching a basic land card onto the battlefield, Containment Breach offers a subtle form of ramp, ensuring that your mana resources continue to grow, setting the stage for more potent plays in subsequent turns.

Instant Speed: The power to act at instant speed gives you the flexibility to respond to threats or opportunities at the most opportune moments. Whether during combat or in response to an opponent’s spell, Containment Breach grants you the tactical edge of adaptability.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the drawbacks of Containment Breach is its discard requirement, which could set back your hand especially in the crucial early to mid-game turns where each card in hand is a valuable resource.

Specific Mana Cost: The card has a specific mana cost that incorporates green mana. This requirement could potentially restrict its inclusion to green-centered decks or those that can reliably produce green mana, thereby limiting its versatility across different deck types.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When it comes to utility and efficiency, Containment Breach’s mana cost is on the higher side. It has a demanding mana requirement which may not be feasible in all game scenarios, especially when faster, more mana-efficient alternatives are available.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Containment Breach is a flexible sideboard card ideal for any collection. It efficiently deals with multiple permanent types and scales well with the amount of mana spent.

Combo Potential: As a piece in a destruction-based strategy, it can remove key threats or pesky artifacts and enchantments, clearing the way for your win conditions.

Meta-Relevance: In metas heavy with artifact and enchantment strategies, Containment Breach emerges as a necessary tool to disrupt opponents and maintain control of the game state.

How to beat Containment Breach

Containment Breach is a unique spell in the realm of Magic: The Gathering, offering players an effective way to deal with artifacts, enchantments, and graveyard strategies. When facing this green card, understanding its potential impact is key. For instance, it targets not only artifacts or enchantments on the board but also delves into punishing graveyard-based tactics with its lesson ability.

To counteract the effects of Containment Breach, consider diversifying your threats. Instead of leaning heavily into artifacts and enchantments, balance your deck with more resilient creature strategies or planeswalkers. Additionally, implementing cards that protect or recur your key pieces can mitigate the disruption that Containment Breach causes. Watch out for the timing as well; since Containment Breach is a sorcery, you can plan around its usage by developing your board state during phases where it can’t be played.

Flexibility in your strategy is crucial when going head-to-head with decks utilizing Containment Breach. By anticipating and planning for its removal potential, you can diminish its impact and maintain the upper hand in your Magic: The Gathering matches.

Cards like Containment Breach

Containment Breach joins the roster of naturalize effects in MTG, offering a unique spin on artifact and enchantment removal. It draws a close parallel to cards like Naturalize or Disenchant that serve the primary purpose of destroying target artifacts or enchantments. Containment Breach differs in that it also deals with cards in graveyards by exiling them, preventing any recursion the opponent may have planned.

Another cousin in the family of removal spells is Return to Nature. It carries the flexibility of choosing between destroying an enchantment, an artifact, or exiling a card from a graveyard. Containment Breach stands out, however, by seeding the graveyard with a Pest creature token upon its successful casting, offering some board presence. This can potentially provide defensive utility or chip in for a bit of life gain.

Considering the strategic significance of versatile removals, Containment Breach is notable for its own merits. It brings more than just the straightforward destroy mechanic, adding value through its Learn ability and providing a secondary benefit that can influence the state of the game. Its unique combination of effects makes it a worthy consideration for players valuing both removal and additional gameplay options.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Containment Breach MTG card by a specific set like Strixhaven: School of Mages, 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 Containment Breach and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Containment Breach has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Commander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2021-04-16	Although you may want to include Lessons in your sideboard if you’re playing with cards that instruct you to learn, Lesson cards can be included in your main deck like other instant or sorcery cards.
2021-04-16	If Containment Breach resolves, and the target artifact has a mana value of 2 or less, but it wasn’t destroyed (perhaps because it has indestructible), you will still create a Pest.
2021-04-16	If the artifact or enchantment is an illegal target as Containment Breach tries to resolve, it won’t resolve and none of its effects will happen. You won’t create a Pest.
2021-04-16	Lesson is a spell subtype found on some instant and sorcery cards in the Strixhaven set. The Lesson subtype has no special rules associated with it.