Mishra's Groundbreaker MTG Card
1996-06-10 - Number 123
2008-09-22 - Number 215
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Artifact |
Key Takeaways
- Mishra’s Groundbreaker can shift lands to offensive creatures, creating unexpected battlefield advantages.
- It requires discarding a card and specific mana, which can be restrictive in diverse decks.
- Its versatility and combo potential make it a valuable addition, able to disrupt typical MTG metas.
Text of card
oc T: Sacrifice Mishra's Groundbreaker. Target land becomes a 3/3 artifact creature. That creature still counts as a land.
The very ground yielded to Mishra's wishes.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Mishra’s Groundbreaker is designed to not just be a single-use tactic. It allows players to potentially swing the tide of the game, transforming land into potent creatures. While this doesn’t directly increase your hand size, it converts an existing in-play resource into an immediate threat, effectively increasing your on-board assets and maintaining card advantage in terms of resources available for use in battle.
Resource Acceleration: This card can strategically boost your battlefield presence by turning your lands into aggressive creatures, which can effectively surprise your opponents and accelerate your offensive capabilities. The ability to rapidly shift the role of your resources from mana production to combat power can catch an adversary off guard, giving you an edge in the race to outpace your opponent’s actions and strategies.
Instant Speed: The flexibility offered by instant speed spells in MTG is immense, and Mishra’s Groundbreaker is no exception. Casting this spell at the end of your opponent’s turn maximizes your options, preserving mana for reactive plays or deploying surprise blockers. Additionally, it can be a game-changer during combat, providing the option to repurpose your lands at the most opportune moment to maximize their impact.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Mishra’s Groundbreaker has a downside that includes the need to surrender another card from your hand just to unlock its potential. For players who are managing their hand size carefully, the discard can be a significant cost and may lead to diminished options later in the game.
Specific Mana Cost: This card’s activation is not as flexible as one might hope due to the specific mana requirements it demands. The cost of one red and three generic mana may not seamlessly fit into multi-color decks, thereby restraining its inclusion to primarily red-based strategies or requiring a well-tuned mana base.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the ability to turn lands into potent 3/3 creatures with haste can be impactful, the four mana required to activate Mishra’s Groundbreaker is substantial. This might limit the card’s practicality in fast-paced games where the tempo and early board presence are paramount, and there could be more cost-efficient options in the same niche.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Mishra’s Groundbreaker is a unique artifact that can seamlessly adapt to a variety of deck builds. Whether your strategy focuses on land destruction, artifact synergy, or just an unforeseen surprise for your opponent, this card can find its place in numerous scenarios, amplifying your tactical flexibility.
Combo Potential: The ability to turn lands into creatures not only is a surprise attack mechanism but also opens the door to numerous combo possibilities. Imagine pairing it with cards that benefit from creature entering the battlefield or abilities that trigger when creatures die. The endless interplay between permanents makes Mishra’s Groundbreaker a potent asset in any combo-centric deck.
Meta-Relevance: In a game that’s as ever-changing as MTG, cards that can counter or sidestep popular strategies quickly become must-haves. Mishra’s Groundbreaker offers such an angle, allowing you to disrupt land-heavy strategies or activating landfall abilities in unexpected ways. It’s an excellent sideboard candidate, ready to shake up the current meta.
How to beat
Mishra’s Groundbreaker is an artifact card that can turn lands into powerful attack tools in Magic: The Gathering. While it can catch players off guard, overcoming this card is achievable. Counteracting this strategy often involves early disruption, such as targeted removal spells that handle artifacts or lands before they become a threat. Consider cards like Naturalize or Disenchant to deal with the Groundbreaker itself as soon as it hits the field.
Another effective approach involves limiting your opponent’s capacity to use their lands as creatures. Board clear spells, such as Wrath of God or Damnation, can sweep away multiple animated lands at once, resetting the board state to your advantage. Additionally, cards like Pacifism or Arrest can neutralize individual land creatures without destroying them, providing a more controlled and resource-friendly solution.
Ultimately, staying alert to the potential for land-creature transformation and having the appropriate countermeasures in your deck will enhance your resilience against Mishra’s Groundbreaker. It’s also wise to maintain a diverse set of responses to adapt quickly during gameplay, ensuring that this unique card doesn’t tilt the match in your opponent’s favor.
Cards like Mishra's Groundbreaker
Mishra’s Groundbreaker is a unique tool for players keen on turning unassuming lands into potent threats. This card bears semblance to Elemental Uprising, which also temporarily converts a land into a formidable creature. However, Mishra’s Groundbreaker offers a distinct advantage by creating a creature with trample, allowing it to potentially deal damage even if blocked. Unlike Elemental Uprising, the transformation lasts indefinitely, making it a serious tactical asset.
Life and Limb takes a similar concept in a different direction, blurring the lines between lands and creatures by transforming all Forests and Saprolings into both. While it affects multiple targets and has a lasting battlefield presence, Mishra’s Groundbreaker allows for precise and surprising strikes by focusing on individual lands. Another card worth mentioning is Nissa, Who Shakes the World. While not converting lands into creatures outright, Nissa’s passive ability can turn lands into powerful 3/3 creatures with vigilance and haste as a +1 loyalty ability.
To summarize, Mishra’s Groundbreaker presents a distinct playstyle compared to its peers, offering MTG players a strategic choice when including land-animating spells in their decks. It’s the trample ability and the permanent creature transformation that sets Mishra’s Groundbreaker apart in deck-building considerations.
Cards similar to Mishra's Groundbreaker by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Mishra's Groundbreaker MTG card by a specific set like Alliances and Masters Edition II, 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 Mishra's Groundbreaker and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Mishra's Groundbreaker Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1996-06-10 and 2008-09-22. Illustrated by Randy Gallegos.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1996-06-10 | Alliances | ALL | 123 | 1993 | Normal | Black | Randy Gallegos | |
| 2 | 2008-09-22 | Masters Edition II | ME2 | 215 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Randy Gallegos |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Mishra's Groundbreaker 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 Mishra's Groundbreaker card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2008-08-01 | A noncreature permanent that turns into a creature can attack, and its abilities can be activated, only if its controller has continuously controlled that permanent since the beginning of their most recent turn. It doesn’t matter how long the permanent has been a creature. |
| 2008-10-01 | The ability’s effect has no duration. The affected land will remain an artifact, creature, and land until the game ends, it leaves the battlefield, or some other effect changes its types. |
