Mana Breach MTG Card


It forces opponents to reconsider their spell casting, providing a unique resource disruption tactic. Enhances decks built for control, combo exploitation, and turning the tide in a meta dominated by fast aggro. Different from similar cards, it emphasizes consistent disruption, making it a valuable tool against mana-intensive strategies.
Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeEnchantment

Text of card

Whenever any player plays a spell, that player returns a land he or she controls to owner's hand.

The wizard had it all—until she tried to use it.


Cards like Mana Breach

Mana Breach is an intriguing enchantment in the vast pool of Magic: The Gathering control cards. Unique in its design, Mana Breach requires that each time a player casts a spell, they must return a land they control to their hand. This can significantly disrupt opponents’ strategies and delay their game plan. It compares interestingly to cards such as Overburden, which also forces a land return but only when a creature enters the battlefield—a narrower scope compared to the extensive reach of Mana Breach.

Another card worth mentioning in the same breath is Storm Cauldron, a card that exacerbates the land-returning to hand effect by applying it to all players every time a land is tapped. It’s a higher-cost card and affects all lands as opposed to Mana Breach, which triggers on spell cast, offering a different but equally challenging dynamic. Confounding the issue further, these cards lead to a higher-tier strategy when combined with landfall abilities, illustrating the depth in Magic: The Gathering’s card interactions.

Through a careful analysis of Mana Breach’s likeness and differences with similar enchantments that focus on land control, it stands out with its ability to consistently hinder opponent’s mana bases, making it a noteworthy choice for deck builders aiming to employ disruption tactics.

Overburden - MTG Card versions
Storm Cauldron - MTG Card versions
Overburden - MTG Card versions
Storm Cauldron - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Mana Breach by color, type and mana cost

Feedback - MTG Card versions
In the Eye of Chaos - MTG Card versions
Undertow - MTG Card versions
Mana Vortex - MTG Card versions
Energy Flux - MTG Card versions
Gaseous Form - MTG Card versions
Mesmeric Trance - MTG Card versions
Soul Barrier - MTG Card versions
Puppet Master - MTG Card versions
Teferi's Realm - MTG Card versions
Propaganda - MTG Card versions
Intruder Alarm - MTG Card versions
Equilibrium - MTG Card versions
Checks and Balances - MTG Card versions
Douse - MTG Card versions
Veiled Crocodile - MTG Card versions
Charisma - MTG Card versions
Rhystic Study - MTG Card versions
Traveler's Cloak - MTG Card versions
Shifting Sky - MTG Card versions
Feedback - MTG Card versions
In the Eye of Chaos - MTG Card versions
Undertow - MTG Card versions
Mana Vortex - MTG Card versions
Energy Flux - MTG Card versions
Gaseous Form - MTG Card versions
Mesmeric Trance - MTG Card versions
Soul Barrier - MTG Card versions
Puppet Master - MTG Card versions
Teferi's Realm - MTG Card versions
Propaganda - MTG Card versions
Intruder Alarm - MTG Card versions
Equilibrium - MTG Card versions
Checks and Balances - MTG Card versions
Douse - MTG Card versions
Veiled Crocodile - MTG Card versions
Charisma - MTG Card versions
Rhystic Study - MTG Card versions
Traveler's Cloak - MTG Card versions
Shifting Sky - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Mana Breach provides a subtle advantage by effectively reducing the resources available to your opponents, forcing them to strategize with their land plays and facilitating opportunities for you to capitalize on their set back.

Resource Acceleration: With smart play, this enchantment can indirectly accelerate your resources. By disrupting opponents’ mana bases, you can maintain board presence and advance your game plan more efficiently, especially if your deck is designed to operate effectively under Mana Breach’s constraints.

Instant Speed: While not an instant itself, Mana Breach pairs excellently with instant speed spells and abilities. By controlling when your lands are played or returned to your hand, you can optimize timing, maintaining mana for critical instant-speed interactions while your opponents wrestle with their restructured mana flow.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: When playing Mana Breach, each player must return a land to their hand each time they cast a spell. This can be particularly punitive if you’re unable to play multiple lands per turn or if your strategy relies on quickly deploying spells.

Specific Mana Cost: Mana Breach requires both blue mana and generic mana, which can restrict it to decks that run blue or have successful color fixing. This may exclude it from being played in mono-color decks that don’t include blue or in multi-color decks that are already strained for mana consistency.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At three mana, Mana Breach is an enchantment you need to plan around using early enough to get its full effect. Considering other cards with lower mana costs can provide immediate impact or setup for winning conditions, this may deter some players from including Mana Breach in more optimized builds.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Mana Breach can be a multipurpose card for those who prefer to play control decks. It disrupts opponents’ plans while enabling you to exploit the tempo advantage gained by delaying their board development.

Combo Potential: This enchantment shines in decks that are designed to capitalize on casting spells. It offers synergy with strategies that punish opponents when they cast spells or when lands bounce back to their hands.

Meta-Relevance: Given the ever-changing landscape of the MTG environment, Mana Breach can be a strategic inclusion in metas where rapid board development is common, putting slower-building decks at an advantage by consistently setting back the progress of faster, aggressive decks.


How to beat

Mana Breach is a unique enchantment that can significantly alter the flow of a game in MTG. Each time a player plays a land, that player must return a land they control to their hand. This effect has the potential to disrupt many strategies, especially those that rely on having numerous lands in play to execute costly spells.

To effectively circumvent Mana Breach’s constraints, focus on playing lower-cost cards, preserving land drops until absolutely necessary, or employing spells that allow you to put lands onto the battlefield without casting them as a way around the rule. Another method would be to opt for land destruction, countering the rebound effect by limiting the number of lands your opponents have available.

Additionally, having a solid mana base that includes various mana rocks or creatures that produce mana can mitigate the impact of Mana Breach. These alternative mana sources keep your spells flowing while not triggering the enchantment’s return. Accurate timing and selective playing of lands can preserve your board state in the face of this controlling card. Adapting your gameplay to these strategies will often neutralize Mana Breach’s disruptive power, keeping you ahead in the game.


BurnMana Recommendations

Having delved into the strategic intricacies of Mana Breach, we understand its place in both disrupting opponent’s plays and boosting your resource acceleration. Its unique role in controlling gameplay pace sets it apart as an intriguing card to playtest within various deck strategies. While recognizing its limitations, adapting your MTG tactics can tremendously increase your deck’s capacity to manipulate the match to your favor. For players aspiring to build decks around such dynamic card interactions, or those looking to understand how to effectively counter it, continuing the exploration of Mana Breach’s potential is key. Let’s engage further in this conversation, analyze deeper strategies, and optimize your decks for the next level of competitive play.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Mana Breach MTG card by a specific set like Exodus and Seventh Edition, 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 Mana Breach and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Mana Breach Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1998-06-15 and 2001-04-11. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11998-06-15ExodusEXO 381997NormalBlackRebecca Guay
22001-04-11Seventh Edition7ED 85★1997NormalBlackGary Ruddell
32001-04-11Seventh Edition7ED 851997NormalWhiteGary Ruddell

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Mana Breach has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2004-10-04 The ability itself is controlled by Mana Breach’s controller.
2004-10-04 The person who cast the spell chooses which of their lands is affected.