Cessation MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Enchantment — Aura
Abilities	Enchant
Released	1999-02-15
Set symbol
Set name	Urza's Legacy
Set code	ULG
Number	4
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Mark Zug

Key Takeaways

Can neutralize key creatures and swings the game balance in your favor.
Low casting cost aids in efficient resource management during play.
Casting at instant speed allows for flexible and strategic responses.

Text of card

Enchanted creature cannot attack. When Cessation is put into a graveyard from play, return Cessation to owner's hand.

"The face of Light will shine upon them, and they will know war no more." —*Song of All*, canto 918

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Cessation can effectively neutralize a threat, which in turn can lead to a potential card advantage. By attaching to a key creature, it can prevent an opponent from gaining the upper hand, maintaining the balance or tipping the scales in your favor over the course of a match.

Resource Acceleration: While Cessation itself doesn’t directly produce additional resources, its low casting cost enables you to manage your resources efficiently. This allows you to play other spells more freely, effectively accelerating your resource allocation and usage during a game.

Instant Speed: The ability to play Cessation at instant speed provides crucial flexibility. It can be cast in response to an opponent’s actions, offering the element of surprise and allowing for strategic plays that can interrupt and derail an opponent’s strategy at a moment’s notice.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Cessation card necessitates that a player discard another card to activate certain abilities, which can be problematic when hand resources are critical for maintaining strategic momentum.

Specific Mana Cost: Cessation demands a precise combination of white mana to be played, which may not always be readily available, especially in multicolored or mana-flexible decks where white mana might be scarce.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost that can be seen as steep for its effect, players may find themselves prioritizing other spells or creatures that provide similar utility for a lesser investment, thus potentially relegating Cessation to a less favorable choice in deck construction.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Cessation offers an effective control tool that can be slipped into white-based decks to deter attackers. Its ability to neutralize a creature’s combat abilities without removing it from the board entirely, offers a unique tactical advantage, ensuring that it fits a varierty of defensive strategies.

Combo Potential: In decks that manipulate enchantments or aim for a lockdown strategy, Cessation can be a key component. Its recurrence from the graveyard when the enchanted creature dies means it works well in tandem with sacrificial or recursion-based combos.

Meta-Relevance: With aggressive creature decks often taking center stage in many metas, Cessation serves as an efficient tool to stall opponents and protect life totals. Its low mana cost and utility make it a timely response to fast-paced threats, keeping such decks in check.

How to beat

Cessation is a unique enchantment in the MTG arsenal, known for its ability to neutralize some of the most threatening creatures on the battlefield. When dealing with Cessation, it’s crucial to have a strategy that can outmaneuver its continuous control effects. One efficient approach is to leverage spells or abilities that can remove enchantments, like Disenchant or Naturalize. These cards offer a straightforward solution to dismantle the pesky aura without losing tempo.

Additionally, creature spells with hexproof or shroud prevent Cessation from latching on in the first place, rendering it ineffective. Consider integrating creatures like Silhana Ledgewalker or Gladecover Scout into your deck. These creatures are not only resistant to such enchantments but also remain as potent threats on the board. Lastly, remember that sacrificing the enchanted creature, with spells like Village Rites, can also effectively bypass Cessation’s ability, turning a potential setback into an opportunity for card advantage.

Understanding the mechanics and common counters to Cessation will keep you one step ahead, ensuring your creatures remain free to attack and defend as you steer the game towards victory.

Cards like Cessation

Cessation is an intriguing white enchantment in Magic: The Gathering that temporarily neutralizes a threat by preventing an enchanted creature from attacking or blocking. It aligns closely with cards like Pacifism, another enchantment that effectively removes an opposing creature from combat without actually destroying it. Both cards do an excellent job at crowd control, but Pacifism remains until the creature leaves the battlefield, while Cessation offers a one-time reprieve, returning to its owner’s hand after the enchanted creature is destroyed.

Further comparison can be drawn to Arrest, which not only prevents a creature from attacking or blocking but also bars it from activating its abilities. This can be crucial when dealing with creatures that have troublesome activated abilities. While Cessation doesn’t deliver this level of constraint, its recyclability can offer ongoing tactical advantages throughout a match. Then there’s Faith’s Fetters which is a bit more versatile, neutralizing any permanent’s abilities and granting you life, albeit at a higher casting cost compared to Cessation.

Cessation holds its ground in the realm of control enchantments by offering a balance between cost effectiveness and reusable control that could provide repetitive value in a protracted game of Magic: The Gathering.

Cards similar to Cessation by color, type and mana cost

The Restoration of Eiganjo // Architect of Restoration - MTG Card versions

Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant // Rune-Tail's Essence - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Cessation MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Legacy, 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 Cessation and other MTG cards: