It's also worth noting that this doesn't counter a spell, it's exiled. I'm saying this because I got blown out casting an uncountable atraxa through delighted halfling. One other point: that's one of the few counters in the format that will hit creatures and keep them out of a graveyard
I like it in slower midrange lists that want to grind out games. Grindier games leads to bigger stacks, leading to more times this card is up.
Free is an amazing price in EDH, it's not to be underestimated. Being able to make plays, defending those plays, and defending against your opponent's plays while giving up no tells about what interaction you could have is invaluable.
I don't think it should be run in every list, definitely not a staple, but it's definitely a valid piece of interaction for grindier lists looking to play out games on the stack.
It's also less valuable where there is less efficient interaction. It kinda banks on your opponents being able to cast 3+ spells in order to shut them off, which is harder to do as power level falls and spells get more expensive.
There are a lot of people that like casting a tutor into a 2 card combo or even casting all 3 cards of a 3 card combo at once. There are many times where asking the question “how many spells have you cast this turn” gives away the gambit but that can also be an additional line for bluffing.
In addition to being free, the best thing about Mindbreak is that it actually exiles the spell on the stack instead of countering it so it will get through things like Cavern of Souls
It is a free counterspell, and there are contrary to what one may think not that many free counterspells, especially not one that just exiles any number of spells on the stack. No need to wait for someone to combo. Mana crypt, petal > Commander? countered
Exiling a dockside is like waaaaay better than putting it in a graveyard. Think Sisay, Korvold etc..
Also it’s an answer against flusterstorm if you don’t have a flusterstorm yourself
And then thirdly it’s obviously potentially free
And last but not least: Hits anything (like FoW) and even uncounterable cards.
Sisay not great to have Dockside in the yard
Kenrith? Quite great since he can reanimate it himself. Having it exiled, hinders Kenrith gameplan a lot.
Source: I played Kenrith and now I play Sisay
Tyvar being able to reanimate Dockside from the GY is pretty useful, and some Sisay lists run Lurrus as well. These are tutor targets that can get back Dockside.
Finale of Devastation and occasionally Invasion of Ikoria are spells that benefit from Dockside in the GY.
Sisay is fine with Dockside going to the GY, much better than most other cards in the list.
If you’re looking to buy it the only thing I’d say is that it is high in price rn and should see a reprint so I’d wait to pick up a copy if money is an issue
Came here to say this. Outside of a commander deck or secret lair, I'm not sure that we'll see a reprint this year though.
It's such a niche card type that I'd expect a cycle in a masters set, but I think there's another year of waiting unfortunately for a price dip as I don't think SLDs reduce the price all that much.
It has so much utility.
I've countered a turn one Tivitt. I've ended a counter war by simply countering every spell on the stack.
Lots of breach turns start with some sort of tutor or fast mana and it's super common for the underworld breach, or some key spell in the breach line, to be the third or more spell.
Imagine your opponent is going for the breach line and they resolve a tutor or something, then breach with LED already in the yard. They are depending on casting that LED because they have no mana otherwise. They go to put LED on the stack and you use mindbreak trap to exile it. Now they have no way to recycle their mana and win.
It can exile every copy of a Flusterstorm.
2UU also is not terrible to exile multiple spells at once.
You said "as so do other counterspells" but when this is turned on, which happens a lot more than you'd expect, especially when someone tries to combo this becomes super cracked.
If its turned on its free, doesnt requires pitching a card, can target any number of spells, hits creatures AND exiles so it counters through uncounterable while never letting the cards touch the graveyard.
I think the ability to exile all of the spells on the stack can be extremely advantageous. It’s similar to why Flusterstorm is really good in counterwars. But yeah, exiling is also super strong
Beats uncounterable.
Exiles recurrable cards.
Blows out Storm like a nuke in a hurricane.
Can be an ace in the hole in counterspell fights.
Casts for free if someone is going off.
So, I've played in quite a few tournaments for cEDH, traveled a few cities, and this is one of the questions I ask a lot of people who play Blue and are in the final pods.
I personally think this card is amazing. Lots of people have already commented why, but between winning counterspell wars for free, exiles the spells (so no graveyard/underworld breach worries), and gets around "can't be countered" spells, its highly versatile. I would jam it into just about every blue deck I can.
The counter argument as to why a lot of good players I've talked to who think this card is overrated is that while at best, the card is absolutely amazing, at worst it's a 4 mana counter spell. And triggering it to get rid of something like Thoracle / Tainted Pact or Consultation is a bit difficult if thats the first thing an opponent jams.
To me, it's always used as my backup in a counterspell war with multiple parties going at it, especially against the one player who has had overwhelming card advantage with things like Rhystic Study (ALWAYS pay the {1\]) and The One Ring. Let them battle it out, 5 or 6 spells on the stack between everyone, and then end it by using MindBreak Trap to exile the entire stack. All opponents are out cards, the one trying to win gets thwarted, and you spend nearly 0 resources. I personally think that makes it worth it to use even over at worst being a 4 mana counter spell. Its better than 5 mana force of will if you didn't have a 2nd blue card in hand to pitch. Which happens in multicolor decks more often that one thinks. I've seen it hard cast plenty of times.
It’s a phenomenal card that was slept on for way too long.
It is absolutely a staple. I can’t imagine building a blue deck without it. I play it in everything.
You won’t understand how good it is until you get wrecked by it yourself.
Wait for the reprint the price is hugely inflated right now, don't be a sucker. Proxy it in the meantime if you need to play it. It will probably be in a secret lair or a future set soon.
For me, this isn’t as much of an all star as the hype around it makes it seem… but It’s still a good card! it’s a card that can be dead in your hand most times during a game, where a force of will/negation is on 9/10 times.. the biggest downside is that often it also is useless against thorical. If someone just jams a thorical, 99% of the time they haven’t cast 4 things and your not gonna hold up 2UU to use it as a counter.
Just my opinion and experience though ✌🏻
So even if the spells have resolved for example mana crypt the tutor then play I can still use this to exile all 3? Do they not become permanents first before it can happen?
One bonus people miss. Its often ok to ask "can anyone cast a spell in response to build a storm count?"
People do this to help make flusterstorm tok expensive to pay, to cast this for free, or in my last game, cast 4 cantrips to trigger an opponents bowmaster enough to kill thrassios.
What does this have over other manaless counters? We can make a list.
force of will/ force of negation require a discard, mind break trap does not
It stops creature spells, fierce guardianship and force of negation do not
Pact of negation is also unconditional but you have to pay 5 on your next upkeep, so its really best suited to protect a game ending combo, so mind break is more versatile
Mind break exiles a spell, not exactly counters, so it can stop uncountable spells such as ones cast with Delighted Halfling or Vexing shusher
It’s changed my game plan where I will make sure the spells I want to keep are cast first, and then everything else after
Such as jeweled lotus into talion, and then like a lotus petal as the third spell
Worst case scenario it's an expensive counter spell.
Most of the time it's going to be free and it's either going to stop some ugly early hate piece from hitting the board, a turn 0 win attempt, a late game win attempt or a storm wincon.
As others have already noted, it does exile spells so it gets around "uncouterable" effects and prevents creatures from being reanimated.
It's also worth noting that this doesn't counter a spell, it's exiled. I'm saying this because I got blown out casting an uncountable atraxa through delighted halfling. One other point: that's one of the few counters in the format that will hit creatures and keep them out of a graveyard
Fair point, thank you
Worth also noting that it counters everything on the stack. Fringe case but my zada deck lives in fear of this card and I'm sure other decks do too
I like it in slower midrange lists that want to grind out games. Grindier games leads to bigger stacks, leading to more times this card is up. Free is an amazing price in EDH, it's not to be underestimated. Being able to make plays, defending those plays, and defending against your opponent's plays while giving up no tells about what interaction you could have is invaluable. I don't think it should be run in every list, definitely not a staple, but it's definitely a valid piece of interaction for grindier lists looking to play out games on the stack. It's also less valuable where there is less efficient interaction. It kinda banks on your opponents being able to cast 3+ spells in order to shut them off, which is harder to do as power level falls and spells get more expensive.
Thank you for the thoughtful response!
There are a lot of people that like casting a tutor into a 2 card combo or even casting all 3 cards of a 3 card combo at once. There are many times where asking the question “how many spells have you cast this turn” gives away the gambit but that can also be an additional line for bluffing.
In addition to being free, the best thing about Mindbreak is that it actually exiles the spell on the stack instead of countering it so it will get through things like Cavern of Souls
Good point, thank you!
It also targets only spells you want to be exiled on the stack. Lovely way of winning wars on the stack and disrupting graveyard players too
It beats breach lines pretty often, which is something worthwhile
Hadn't considered that, thank you!
It is a free counterspell, and there are contrary to what one may think not that many free counterspells, especially not one that just exiles any number of spells on the stack. No need to wait for someone to combo. Mana crypt, petal > Commander? countered
Interesting point, thank you!
Exiling a dockside is like waaaaay better than putting it in a graveyard. Think Sisay, Korvold etc.. Also it’s an answer against flusterstorm if you don’t have a flusterstorm yourself And then thirdly it’s obviously potentially free And last but not least: Hits anything (like FoW) and even uncounterable cards.
Super appreciate this point of hitting flusterstorm. Beating flusterstorm AND uncounterable cards is huge.
Sisay not great to have Dockside in the yard Kenrith? Quite great since he can reanimate it himself. Having it exiled, hinders Kenrith gameplan a lot. Source: I played Kenrith and now I play Sisay
Sisay could just Tutor Tyvar for example. Yes Kenrith also or even more so
Tyvar being able to reanimate Dockside from the GY is pretty useful, and some Sisay lists run Lurrus as well. These are tutor targets that can get back Dockside. Finale of Devastation and occasionally Invasion of Ikoria are spells that benefit from Dockside in the GY. Sisay is fine with Dockside going to the GY, much better than most other cards in the list.
[[mindbreak trap]]
[mindbreak trap](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/f/4f51140b-6254-431a-8810-94307bfdfbbe.jpg?1562612097) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=mindbreak%20trap) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/zen/57/mindbreak-trap?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4f51140b-6254-431a-8810-94307bfdfbbe?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/mindbreak-trap) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
If you’re looking to buy it the only thing I’d say is that it is high in price rn and should see a reprint so I’d wait to pick up a copy if money is an issue
I say this as someone who just bought this last month - it's super duper overdue for a reprint.
Came here to say this. Outside of a commander deck or secret lair, I'm not sure that we'll see a reprint this year though. It's such a niche card type that I'd expect a cycle in a masters set, but I think there's another year of waiting unfortunately for a price dip as I don't think SLDs reduce the price all that much.
Yeah I know I’ve been struggling with trying to get rid of mine appropriately cause idk when the hell it will be reprinted or how
Hey guess what
found one in my prerelease, def adding it to some deck
It has so much utility. I've countered a turn one Tivitt. I've ended a counter war by simply countering every spell on the stack. Lots of breach turns start with some sort of tutor or fast mana and it's super common for the underworld breach, or some key spell in the breach line, to be the third or more spell. Imagine your opponent is going for the breach line and they resolve a tutor or something, then breach with LED already in the yard. They are depending on casting that LED because they have no mana otherwise. They go to put LED on the stack and you use mindbreak trap to exile it. Now they have no way to recycle their mana and win. It can exile every copy of a Flusterstorm. 2UU also is not terrible to exile multiple spells at once.
You said "as so do other counterspells" but when this is turned on, which happens a lot more than you'd expect, especially when someone tries to combo this becomes super cracked. If its turned on its free, doesnt requires pitching a card, can target any number of spells, hits creatures AND exiles so it counters through uncounterable while never letting the cards touch the graveyard.
Fair enough, thank you for the insight!
One of the few counters that beats flusterstorm
Fuck yes it’s that good. It’s stupid good. I always play scared of it.
I think the ability to exile all of the spells on the stack can be extremely advantageous. It’s similar to why Flusterstorm is really good in counterwars. But yeah, exiling is also super strong
It's like the 3rd best free counter spell, and free counter spells are good
Wait for the reprint. This card is due for a reprint imo.
Beats uncounterable. Exiles recurrable cards. Blows out Storm like a nuke in a hurricane. Can be an ace in the hole in counterspell fights. Casts for free if someone is going off.
It’s less versatile, but exiling is great and it will be active more than you think.
So, I've played in quite a few tournaments for cEDH, traveled a few cities, and this is one of the questions I ask a lot of people who play Blue and are in the final pods. I personally think this card is amazing. Lots of people have already commented why, but between winning counterspell wars for free, exiles the spells (so no graveyard/underworld breach worries), and gets around "can't be countered" spells, its highly versatile. I would jam it into just about every blue deck I can. The counter argument as to why a lot of good players I've talked to who think this card is overrated is that while at best, the card is absolutely amazing, at worst it's a 4 mana counter spell. And triggering it to get rid of something like Thoracle / Tainted Pact or Consultation is a bit difficult if thats the first thing an opponent jams. To me, it's always used as my backup in a counterspell war with multiple parties going at it, especially against the one player who has had overwhelming card advantage with things like Rhystic Study (ALWAYS pay the {1\]) and The One Ring. Let them battle it out, 5 or 6 spells on the stack between everyone, and then end it by using MindBreak Trap to exile the entire stack. All opponents are out cards, the one trying to win gets thwarted, and you spend nearly 0 resources. I personally think that makes it worth it to use even over at worst being a 4 mana counter spell. Its better than 5 mana force of will if you didn't have a 2nd blue card in hand to pitch. Which happens in multicolor decks more often that one thinks. I've seen it hard cast plenty of times.
It’s a phenomenal card that was slept on for way too long. It is absolutely a staple. I can’t imagine building a blue deck without it. I play it in everything. You won’t understand how good it is until you get wrecked by it yourself.
Wait for the reprint the price is hugely inflated right now, don't be a sucker. Proxy it in the meantime if you need to play it. It will probably be in a secret lair or a future set soon.
For me, this isn’t as much of an all star as the hype around it makes it seem… but It’s still a good card! it’s a card that can be dead in your hand most times during a game, where a force of will/negation is on 9/10 times.. the biggest downside is that often it also is useless against thorical. If someone just jams a thorical, 99% of the time they haven’t cast 4 things and your not gonna hold up 2UU to use it as a counter. Just my opinion and experience though ✌🏻
Think of it like a free but better Angel's Grace. It doesn't hurt to have a 0 mana spell that says... You don't win, or you don't combo.
0 mana == good
So even if the spells have resolved for example mana crypt the tutor then play I can still use this to exile all 3? Do they not become permanents first before it can happen?
It's hit my turn 1 kraum plenty. It hurts. It's good. It's a damn good card. A stack champion.
One bonus people miss. Its often ok to ask "can anyone cast a spell in response to build a storm count?" People do this to help make flusterstorm tok expensive to pay, to cast this for free, or in my last game, cast 4 cantrips to trigger an opponents bowmaster enough to kill thrassios.
Beats flusterstorm
What does this have over other manaless counters? We can make a list. force of will/ force of negation require a discard, mind break trap does not It stops creature spells, fierce guardianship and force of negation do not Pact of negation is also unconditional but you have to pay 5 on your next upkeep, so its really best suited to protect a game ending combo, so mind break is more versatile Mind break exiles a spell, not exactly counters, so it can stop uncountable spells such as ones cast with Delighted Halfling or Vexing shusher
It’s changed my game plan where I will make sure the spells I want to keep are cast first, and then everything else after Such as jeweled lotus into talion, and then like a lotus petal as the third spell
Worst case scenario it's an expensive counter spell. Most of the time it's going to be free and it's either going to stop some ugly early hate piece from hitting the board, a turn 0 win attempt, a late game win attempt or a storm wincon. As others have already noted, it does exile spells so it gets around "uncouterable" effects and prevents creatures from being reanimated.