Mindbreak Trap

[agracru]

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/366/mindbreaktrapenlr.jpg (http://img228.imageshack.us/i/mindbreaktrapenlr.jpg/)

So...yeah. Kind of a neat trick for Blue.

[Minion_of_Gleemax]

Take that cascade!

And BOOOOOOOOOOOOO Mythic...

[SquirrelFang]

Yeah. Not sure how I'm feeling the playable counterspell in this set being mythic rare. That's just a bit much.

Oh and this also ruins any storm based deck in Vintage and Legacy. As well as very easily making sure a lot of the combo decks that like to go off turn one or two don't work. Great. So much for my desire to play 2 Land Belcher.

[NegatorBoy]

I know this is a noob question, but I'm a little confused by this card. Other than cascade spells and a Negate battle with another blue player, what use is the multiple spell ability?

[agracru]

I'm thinking that this was pretty much printed to stop ridiculously fast-killing combo decks in non-Standard environments, Squirrel. Probably why it's a Mythic. Maybe I'm just stating the obvious.

[Minion_of_Gleemax]

This has a number of effects really.

1) stops cascade and storm
2) Not only counters single spells, but exiles the card. Maybe not a huge difference, but sometimes matters.
3) Can be played for free rarely which is also nice.

I predict this card will be quite the chase MYTHIC mainly because of its utility in multiple formats. I may be wrong on this one though.

[Chainer9999]

Well it's essentially four more Force of Will when facing any deck that involves either:

1) Storm

or

2) Yawgmoth's Will

Stephen Menendian must be wetting his pants right now.

[agracru]

Exiling the card could be a big deal with some of the recur we're seeing in the set, e.g. the new White land that brings dorks back from the graveyard to play.

EDIT: As to Stephen Menendian, I very much doubt that his pants will stay on for very long after reading this card.

[SquirrelFang]

I am almost certain I don't care to play older formats now. It was hard enough playing around Force of Will when playing 2-Land Belcher. Sure game 2 and three we have 4x Pyroblast and 4x Red Elemental Blast to take care of such things, I guess maybe it'll still be a viable combo. I'll have to think long and hard before I drop cash for Lion's Eye Diamonds and Chrome Moxes...*grumbles*

I'm just mad I actually have to pick up a set of Mythics this time.

As a note: Mindbreak Trap has already hit ebay at a $50-60 a set price tag.

[rincewind32]

Well it's essentially four more Force of Will when facing any deck that involves either:

1) Storm

or

2) Yawgmoth's Will

Stephen Menendian must be wetting his pants right now.

And good in mirror matches and/or counter wars.

[sageonthestage]

Watch out, combo decks will have to start playing nix!

[ainsi_la_nuit]

More like Wallet-F*** Trap.

[namegoeshere]

Not for standard.

But yeah a big deal the further back the format

[nixonwong]

no way its 50 dollars....i mean its good in vintage and legacy, but it has like absoluetly no use in standard.

[Minion_of_Gleemax]

Not true. I think the big thing this fall in standard will be cascade, which this is excellent at "countering" (hehe).

[ewallhagen]

This card shouldn't have been printed at Mythic... It may not be the best standard card, but for everything else it is nuts. It may even see play in standard, though unlikely.

P.S. I LOVE the flavor text on it.

[The-DaRkLoRd-]

I can't believe they actually printed a card like this, expecially has mythic rare. its no way a 50 dollar card but it will fetch a lot of money either way. This just rapes combo, and its still usefull agaisnt control. Remember you can still hardcast it for 4 mana, wich aint that much either way. Bad bad bad print.

[Minion_of_Gleemax]

Most combos don't rely on having lots of spells on the stack at once, the notable exception being storm decks. However, storm may lose a bit of ground in extended at least, because it loses so any of its powerhouse cards in the rotation. That being said, I am guessing the card to come rest at $25 and stay there for a very, very long time

[The-DaRkLoRd-]

For me, its not the counter any number of spells part that actually hurt. Is the 0 mana exile counter. I agree on it staying at 20-25 dolar for long long long long long time.

[Skyweir]

Don't forget that it will "counter" uncounterable spells like Stag or Fallout, since it exiles them instead of countering them.

Plus, Cascade will likely be huge come october. Even hardcasting this for 4 will still counter Bloodbraid into Maelstrom Pulse.

[nixonwong]

Don't forget that it will "counter" uncounterable spells like Stag or Fallout, since it exiles them instead of countering them.

Plus, Cascade will likely be huge come october. Even hardcasting this for 4 will still counter Bloodbraid into Maelstrom Pulse.

y pay 4 if u can pay only 3 for a double negative?

[Jokopusod7]

the casting cost of double negative is 2 islands and 1 red...while this is one 2 blue and 2 any colors of your choice...this made a great difference....also it can be cast when the opponent play 3 or more spells

[OdiousMesmerism]

I really like this card, but it seems like it would be good only against combo oriented decks or Cascade.

While others can debate that this should be rare, seeing as a Mythic is relevant due to the probability that Wizards has more in store for the following sets that require this card to go off like crazy.

Also, this is a good asset against Affinity.

Think about it.

[x3dm]

anyone mind explaining this card into a little more detail. Does it only work if 3 or more spells are on the stack. It says during this turn, so if i played a bloodbriad into a wooly thoctar, attacked, then played a mind funeral on 2nd main phase and twincasted it letting everything resolve, would i be able to exile everything including the double mind funerals after resolving, or would i have to play it after twincast to counter it all?

[The-DaRkLoRd-]

I believe it only works after 3 spells resolve but I might be wrong.

[Chainer9999]

I believe it only works after 3 spells resolve but I might be wrong.

You're wrong. It works after three spells are cast; it has nothing to do with those spells resolving. And it doesn't have to be three spells on the stack at the same time.

If your opponent goes Sol Ring, Mox Sapphire, Timetwister, you can counter the Timetwister for free, because three spells have been cast by your opponent. It matters not that the Ring and the Sapphire have both resolved.

Of course, if your opponent goes Enlisted Wurm, cascades into Bituminous Blast, then cascades into Bloodbraid Elf, which cascades into Maelstrom Pulse, you can counter everything for free.

Basically, whether they have resolved or are on the stack at the same time, once three spells have been cast by the opponent, you can use Mindbreak Trap's Trap cost.

[David88]

Awesome just in time for faeries to never counter a great sable stag hooray. Interesting that you might be able to use Jedi mind tricks to stop peple playing that third spell off the cascade now.

[justactcasual]

Oh no, we'll never print general utility cards at Mythic: only Johnny cards and big epic Timmy spells...and Planeswalkers. That's it. Really. *snicker*

Double Lackey and Free Exile anti-combo counter both at Mythic? Wizards is moving its offices to the red-light district.

Mythic status plus its requirement in every format will mean that this is going to be ridiculously expensive. $50-60 dollars is not at all unreasonable to expect.

[RyuumiGaroukuni]

Take this Cascade

[jrsthethird]

the casting cost of double negative is 2 islands and 1 red...while this is one 2 blue and 2 any colors of your choice...this made a great difference....also it can be cast when the opponent play 3 or more spells

islands? come on dude.

this card is nuts. definitely going to be the big chase rare in the set.

[The-DaRkLoRd-]

I stand corrected. Its even better then what I first thought then. Oh, btw, anyone knows a good site to order a Booster Box in europe? Probably going to buy one or two has I just came back to magic and got 0 cards for T2. Well a couple of m10 but still not enough :p

[MadHatter]

yeah squirellfang is full of it... i just checked ebay, the buy it now price is only $15 and playsets are going for around $30, $40 on the high end.

[SquirrelFang]

It should be noted that Ebay prices fluctuate at random during the "Let's post auctions from the spoiler list" season. Thus my posting of the prices when there were 9 auctions for the card and their buy it now prices were edged at the $50-60 for four-copies of the card does not make me full of it by any means just because the price changed later in the day. As it is currently (4:13am EST) the Buy It Now playsets are $59.99 and the sets for auction are hovering at $30 with more than plenty of hours to go. These will be roughly $15 a piece until someone decides they're a staple card in standard at which point they will move to $20.

[PaulRall]

the more i think about it this cards gets better and better. i say its only gonna be like 15 bucks at its peak but what do i know haha.

[PlatypusPlatoon]

Wow. This is ridiculous. If you want to stop storm or whatever other 1st & 2nd turn kill shenanignas your opponent is mustering up, you can side this into your completely non-blue deck.

Why Mythic, Wizards? Was M10 completely selling out of stores not enough for you? Does reprinting Wrath of God and adding in enemy fetchlands at rare not already spell C-A-S-H G-R-A-B?

Like the card, but not the direction that Wizards is pushing mythic rares. I love this game, but if good future tournament playable staples are printed at mythic rather than rare, it'll be time to find a cheaper hobby. Forget the M10 rule changes. Nobody actually quit the game over that. But having the average FNM-attending Joe be priced out of the market is much worse than losing our precious combat on the stack tricks.

Thankfully, Mindbreak Trap seems to have fewer applications in Standard. Perhaps my wallet is safe for another few months.

[yuench]

Wow. This is ridiculous. If you want to stop storm or whatever other 1st & 2nd turn kill shenanignas your opponent is mustering up, you can side this into your completely non-blue deck.

Why Mythic, Wizards? Was M10 completely selling out of stores not enough for you? Does reprinting Wrath of God and adding in enemy fetchlands at rare not already spell C-A-S-H G-R-A-B?

Like the card, but not the direction that Wizards is pushing mythic rares. I love this game, but if good future tournament playable staples are printed at mythic rather than rare, it'll be time to find a cheaper hobby. Forget the M10 rule changes. Nobody actually quit the game over that. But having the average FNM-attending Joe be priced out of the market is much worse than losing our precious combat on the stack tricks.

Thankfully, Mindbreak Trap seems to have fewer applications in Standard. Perhaps my wallet is safe for another few months.

Unfortunately, it still has some say in standard as a 4cc counterspell which serves as Doube Negative against cascade and hard counter against Volcanic Fallout and Great Stable Stag

[Agrrotactics]

What applications does this card have for standard? Because I don't see this killing cascade for free too offen cause it would require the random act of having your opponents cascade hitting another cascade card. To me the only thing it does for standard im seeing is counter previously can't be countered cards by calling it removal. Which I think is just a silly loop hole they just made. Remove spells I guess exile is now differnet then remove from game., M10 rules actually apply here im shocked.

[sblade]

Even though this card seems good but it isn't a good replacement for Cryptic Command. As 5CC player i will miss Cryptic, but this guy won't make a good replacement for Cryptic.

Granted it will see some competitive play but mainly will be sideboard against cascade, this card is worthless against RDW or aggro based decks, at the most is a 4cc hard counterspell-like card, at worst, it will be sitting next to your other cards to be traded.

I really don't see the excitement that people see over this card, the card is good but it isn't great.

Cheers

[siopao]

its a counter for uncounterables. it can counter BOTH spells cascaded, and we all know how broken cascade is. it has utitlity against storm and random combos. and it only costs 1 more than cancel. not to mention its free if certain conditions are met. whats not to like?

its no cryptic, but its pretty close imo. or at the very least more relavant to the current cascady meta.

[b00xx]

if your opponent plays an open the vaults and bring back like 30 cards.. could you then play mind break trap and be able to exile all 30 cards?

[siopao]

dun think so. its put it into play. not play them for free.

[Warmaker]

Yawgmoth's will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tendo]

it seriously baffles me how people get angry with wotc, over single card prices. Yeah they limit the printing of some cards, its a collectible card game.... But do you honestly think they in anyway are doing this intentionally to drive up the singles market? Where they make 0?


http://www.jonathangiles.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/2361866387_4bdb08a481.jpg

[Agrrotactics]

its a counter for uncounterables. it can counter BOTH spells cascaded, and we all know how broken cascade is. it has utitlity against storm and random combos. and it only costs 1 more than cancel. not to mention its free if certain conditions are met. whats not to like?

its no cryptic, but its pretty close imo. or at the very least more relavant to the current cascady meta.

Have you ever relized what Double Negative was actually meant for I'd rather use that card than this if your worried about cascade. yeah it requires one red but with these new fetch lands mixing blue with red is not going to be a big deal, and its always better to play with the faster counter spell. Besides that 5cc decks before hand were using Cryptic command and Volcanic Fallout main, looking at there mana costs working toghter in the same in deck should be no big deal having 5cc deck reverting to using Double Negative if your that afraid of cascade.

[siopao]

youre seriously going to add red to your mainly blue control for double negative when you can play this card instead? i mean unless youre grixis or something i dont see that happening. and grixis wont be the dominant shard 5cc morphs into since wrath and path is white. it will probably be esper.

face it people, rainbow colors is dead. you dont have the luxury of splashing every color you want to your decks anymore. you can try to make it work, but i can confidently say that you are going to fail. fetches? remember whatever the fecthland grabs only produces one color (unless they reprint duals with basic land types which i dont see happening). that doesnt seem efficient at all if you ask me. not in 4 or 5 color deck anyways.

and comon, having the ability to answer stag or banefire (and maybe to a very small extent, to the point of irrelevance, spellbreaker behemoth) in a mostly blue deck is pretty good.

i reiterate; its no cryptic, but its pretty close.

[Yanng]

lol this card stops Chandra Ablaze in her tracks.

[dovienya]

Sorry for being noobie here.

Quick question on Mindbreak Trap.

Can Mindbreak Trap take out Great Sable Stag ?

Mindbreak Trap state Target spell , where as Sable Stag say Protection From Blue.

Once resolved, Sable Stag is forever out of reach of blue. What about when it is in the stack (not yet resolve)? Does the protections work while it is in the stack?

[heathro1281]

Sorry for being noobie here.

Quick question on Mindbreak Trap.

Can Mindbreak Trap take out Great Sable Stag ?

Mindbreak Trap state Target spell , where as Sable Stag say Protection From Blue.

Once resolved, Sable Stag is forever out of reach of blue. What about when it is in the stack (not yet resolve)? Does the protections work while it is in the stack?

Creatures have triggered abilities while on the stack, a static ability like PRO-X wont matter until they resolve- this spell negates Stag/Volcanic/Spellbreaker for those not in the know.

[dovienya]

Thanks,heathro1281 (http://forum.tcgplayer.com/member.php?u=122736) for the update :)

Off the note (response to your sign ;)): what would you do if you were given

Mythic Rare
1cc (B) , 0/1 vampire legend
Pay 1 life: get +1/+1
Pay 1 life: gain flying until end of turn
Pay 1 life: gain shroud until end of turn
Pay 1 life: become unblockable until end of turn

[sKinky]

lol this card stops Chandra Ablaze in her tracks.

Actually it doesn't unless the Chandra player is stupid enough not to let each spell he plays from the grave resolve before playing the next one...

[Minion_of_Gleemax]

How Chandra works:

1) Remove seven counters from her
2) Put ultimate ability on the stack
3) Pass priority and if there are no responses, ability resolves
4) Chandra's controller searches his library for any number of red instant or sorcery spells and puts them on the stack in any order
5) Opponent plays Mindbreak Trap for free and chuckles heartily as all the spells on the stack are removed from the game (hypothetical)

EDIT: you are correct. I typed library when I meant to type graveyard. I also voted for the war in Iraq before I voted against it.

[Warmaker]

How Chandra works:

1) Remove seven counters from her
2) Put ultimate ability on the stack
3) Pass priority and if there are no responses, ability resolves
4) Chandra's controller searches his library for any number of red instant or sorcery spells and puts them on the stack in any order
5) Opponent plays Mindbreak Trap for free and chuckles heartily as all the spells on the stack are removed from the game (hypothetical)

Correction: Chandra Ablaze (as spoiled) works on spells from the graveyard, not the library.

FAIL

[GobletOfLove]

@minion of gleemax

You're confusing a combination of Chandra and Nissa's abilities. Chandra is from graveyard, and yes, she does stack them, and you can exile them w/ mindbreak still i believe.

And Nissa's come directly into play from the library, so they dont go to the stack, so...you cant mindbreak that.

[Agrrotactics]

So far all im seeing about how this card is good for standard is.
A) It will counter/Remove Volcanic fallout/ Great Sable Stag/ Spellbeaker Behemoth
B) will stop cascade like a Double Negative
C) will stop the new Chandra's Final countering the spells from the graveyard
D) people imaginations go wild thinking about destroying combo decks and laughing there heads off

Am I forgeting anything, and is any of this honestly seem like a reasonable answer to todays/future aggro decks or control decks. Cause I honestly don't like this counter its like the first mythic counter and im not seeing it being good in standard. to me its not remotely close to replacing Cryptic Command hidden flavor text I 2 for 1 you in 9 out 10 scenarios. Eveytime I facing a control deck Im going to myself well I guess im going to get tapped down... yup not much I could do and he bounced my planeswalker ugh. That card can just hold the fort this can't.

[sblade]

@minion of gleemax

You're confusing a combination of Chandra and Nissa's abilities. Chandra is from graveyard, and yes, she does stack them, and you can exile them w/ mindbreak still i believe.

And Nissa's come directly into play from the library, so they dont go to the stack, so...you cant mindbreak that.

No she doesn't

Chandra's Ultimate (ZEN)

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=94748&d=1252081698

[-7]: Cast any number of red instant and/or sorcery cards from your graveyard without paying their mana cost.

As you can see the word target is not in her ultimate ability, so you don't target anything before the ability resolves, after it resolves then you get to play anything you have got in your graveyard, as long as it's a red instant or sorcery of course.

It's like instead of saying from your graveyard would say from your hand, you don't target the cards in your hand, you just play them one by one, so no, the :u: trap would not work. Unless you are stupid enough to play them all at once. :D

Cheers.

[GobletOfLove]

I near guarentee this card will see play, maybe on a SB, but still. For countering great sable stag alone (remember, this card is a GG for any U or UB deck in the future standard w/o an answer like......this!)

It's just got enough applications in standard to be really effective in a lot of situations.

No, it's NOT cryptic command. But what is? Welcome back to the age of not totally insanely overpowered blue WoG.

[hellkite91]

No she doesn't

Chandra's Ultimate (ZEN)

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=94748&d=1252081698

[-7]: Cast any number of red instant and/or sorcery cards from your graveyard without paying their mana cost.

As you can see the word target is not in her ultimate ability, so you don't target anything before the ability resolves, after it resolves then you get to play anything you have got in your graveyard, as long as it's a red instant or sorcery of course.

It's like instead of saying from your graveyard would say from your hand, you don't target the cards in your hand, you just play them one by one, so no, the :u: trap would not work. Unless you are stupid enough to play them all at once. :D

Cheers.

for chandra's ability to work the way you think it does, the ultimate would also say "until end of turn", otherwise, you have to choose all of them at once. cuz once it resolves, it's ability is done, as in you finished playing spells for free with it

[GobletOfLove]

No she doesn't

Chandra's Ultimate (ZEN)

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=94748&d=1252081698

[-7]: Cast any number of red instant and/or sorcery cards from your graveyard without paying their mana cost.

As you can see the word target is not in her ultimate ability, so you don't target anything before the ability resolves, after it resolves then you get to play anything you have got in your graveyard, as long as it's a red instant or sorcery of course.

It's like instead of saying from your graveyard would say from your hand, you don't target the cards in your hand, you just play them one by one, so no, the :u: trap would not work. Unless you are stupid enough to play them all at once. :D

Cheers.

O i c, so they're stacked and resolved seperately. So yes, one could still be theoretically countered w/ mindbreak, but unless, as you said, someone was stupid enough to stack them all at once, only 1 would be exiled.

<------------ still a fan of mindbreak reguardless

[sblade]

for chandra's ability to work the way you think it does, the ultimate would also say "until end of turn", otherwise, you have to choose all of them at once. cuz once it resolves, it's ability is done, as in you finished playing spells for free with it

Probably you are right, but the end of turn thing might be implied :D. Otherwise it would say target when you get to play the ability

O i c, so they're stacked and resolved seperately. So yes, one could still be theoretically countered w/ mindbreak, but unless, as you said, someone was stupid enough to stack them all at once, only 1 would be exiled.

<------------ still a fan of mindbreak reguardless

I guess countering a spell for :0: is always good, you get to keep your mana for other stuff (as long as you have the trap of course :D)

Yeah...well i guess i had my doubts at the beginning, granted it isn't cryptic command, but is a strong spell, sadly is mythic and the price of this card will sky rocket once it rotates in.

Now we only need...good old :1::u:mana leak :D

Cheers.

[Falkor]

The cool thing about this card is that it hoses every Storm deck in Extended (and Yawg Will), AND you don't have to play blue. This might open some design space for more decks. Also, since it is blue, you can pitch it to Force, which is definitely nice.

I see no reason why this card will not be in the $20-$30 range, and that is a conservative estimate. If you can pick up a playset for $60, I would.

[GenericKen]

Mindbreak Trap will neuter Chandra's ability. The spells that Chandra allows you to play do stack.

There are dozens of abilities and spells in the game of Magic that allow you to play spells without paying for their mana costs (Hideaway & Cascade, most recently). You play the free spell *during the resolution* of the enabler spell/ability, but you're just playing it. The free spell(s) don't even start to resolve until the the enabler spell/ability finishes resolving, and they resolve one at a time.

Chandra makes you stack all those free spells at once, during the resolution of the enabler. So Mindbreak trap would totally neutralize the ultimate.

[TimmyTurner]

so it can only exile spells on the stack? it cannot exile resolved spell? because, if it can exile creatures played that same turn that are already in play as long as he plays a 3rd spell any time before the end of his turn, that would be pretty awesome. and even if a spells ability was already done, getting rid of a card with retrace or flashback would be pretty sweet too.

[ewallhagen]

A card is only considered a spell while it is on the stack. In your hand/graveyard, it is a card. In play, it is a permanent.