Sphinx Mindbreaker MTG Card


Sphinx Mindbreaker - Theros Beyond Death
Mana cost
Converted mana cost7
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Sphinx
Abilities Flying,Mill
Released2020-01-24
Set symbol
Set nameTheros Beyond Death
Set codeTHB
Power 6
Toughness 6
Number290
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byPINDURSKI

Key Takeaways

  1. Significantly disrupts opponent’s plans through deck milling and card advantage gains.
  2. Deters opponents with an imposing battlefield presence and potential combo setups.
  3. Demands strategic play to mitigate its discard effect and high mana cost.

Text of card

Flying When Sphinx Mindbreaker enters the battlefield, each opponent puts the top ten cards of their library into their graveyard.

Riddles draw you in, paradoxes hold you fast, and answers shatter your perceptions.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Sphinx Mindbreaker offers a significant boost in card advantage by potentially granting access to your opponent’s top cards and strategically planning your next moves based on that information.

Resource Acceleration: This powerful creature can alter the state of play by disrupting your opponent’s resources while simultaneously benefiting your own strategic positioning on the battlefield.

Instant Speed: Although Sphinx Mindbreaker itself may not be an instant, its ability to impact the game upon entering the battlefield can be compared to the surprise factor of instant-speed spells, especially when combined with flash enablers in your deck, giving you the element of surprise.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Sphinx Mindbreaker imposes a discard stipulation. Deploying this creature onto the battlefield compels the player to discard their hand, which might result in a significant drawback, especially if you’ve curated a hand full of answers or threats.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting specifications for Sphinx Mindbreaker demand a unique blend of mana, including two blue mana. This requirement could potentially restrict the card’s integration into decks, necessitating a commitment to blue-geared mana bases.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of five mana, including three of any color and two blue, Sphinx Mindbreaker can be seen as a hefty investment. Considering the card’s abilities, there are times when the mana could be allocated towards more impactful plays or cards that have a more immediate influence on the game state.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Sphinx Mindbreaker slots into numerous deck archetypes that thrive on disrupting opponent strategies. Its ability to cause significant hand disruption is a universal benefit, wrapping nicely into control or mill decks.

Combo Potential: This card’s entrance to the battlefield may pave the way for powerful combos, especially in decks that focus on exploiting opponents’ graveyard or relying on the number of cards in opponents’ hands.

Meta-Relevance: In a gameplay environment laden with strategies that rely on hand synergy, Sphinx Mindbreaker’s ability to deplete an opponent’s resources can be crucial, positioning it as a meta-relevant inclusion.


How to beat

Sphinx Mindbreaker is a potent card that brings a unique challenge to the table in Magic: The Gathering. This card is part of a long lineage of sphinxes in the game known for their formidable abilities, and in this case, Sphinx Mindbreaker’s power to potentially devastate an opponent’s strategy is unparallel as it delves into their library enforcing a huge discard.

To overcome Sphinx Mindbreaker, it is crucial to disrupt its casting, which can be achieved through counterspells or by eliminating or reducing the source of mana acceleration that would enable an early deployment of this high-cost creature. Cards with the capacity to exile it from the opponent’s hand before it hits the battlefield can be particularly effective. If it’s already in play, having removal spells ready to eliminate it instantly, especially those that can exile it to prevent it from coming back, is critical. Cards that can reshuffle the graveyard back into the player’s library, like Elixir of Immortality, are also handy counters. Remember, managing your resources wisely and anticipating your opponent’s moves will be key in negating the Mindbreaker’s game-changing effect.


Cards like Sphinx Mindbreaker

Diving into the depths of blue-aligned mind-bending cards in Magic: The Gathering, Sphinx Mindbreaker stands out for its unique combination of abilities. In a similar space, players might recognize Dream Eater as a creature with disruptive capabilities. While Dream Eater provides an immediate Surveil 4 effect that filters the top cards of your library, Sphinx Mindbreaker takes a more aggressive approach by forcing each opponent to mill ten cards, potentially debilitating their strategy.

Another noteworthy comparison is to Traumatize, a spell that halves an opponent’s library, rounding down. Sphinx Mindbreaker may not cut as deep into a deck, but as a sizable flying creature, it offers a physical presence on the battlefield. Jace, Memory Adept also shares milling virtues, granting a repeatable ability to mill, but lacks the aerial threat that Sphinx Mindbreaker brings to the table.

Ultimately, the decision to include Sphinx Mindbreaker in a MTG deck involves weighing its on-cast mill effect against other available options. It might not possess the repeatable aspect of a planeswalker or the immediate deck thinning of a spell like Traumatize, yet its dual role as both a mill engine and a threatening creature can be a game-changer in the right setup.

Dream Eater - MTG Card versions
Traumatize - MTG Card versions
Jace, Memory Adept - MTG Card versions
Dream Eater - Guilds of Ravnica (GRN)
Traumatize - Odyssey (ODY)
Jace, Memory Adept - Magic 2012 (M12)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Sphinx Mindbreaker MTG card by a specific set like Theros Beyond Death, 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 Sphinx Mindbreaker and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Sphinx Mindbreaker has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
TimelessLegal

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