Card Spotlight
Underworld Breach
A 2-mana red enchantment that gives every nonland card in your graveyard escape for its mana cost plus exiling three other graveyard cards, then sacrifices itself at the end step. With Lion's Eye Diamond and Brain Freeze, it loops for unlimited mana and mill.
Commander Spotlight
Underworld Breach ↗
A 2-mana red enchantment that gives every nonland card in your graveyard escape for its mana cost plus exiling three other graveyard cards, then sacrifices itself at the end step. With Lion's Eye Diamond and Brain Freeze, it loops for unlimited mana and mill.
See Underworld Breach's full stats and printings →
Strategies it goes well with
- Lion's Eye Diamond and Brain Freeze. LED makes three mana, Brain Freeze costs two, and LED escapes for {0}, so each pass nets one mana and two spells for the storm count while Brain Freeze refills the graveyard.
- Thassa's Oracle finish. Mill your own library with the loop, then escape Thassa's Oracle from the graveyard. An empty library wins on its enters trigger.
- Recasting a ritual or a cantrip. Without LED, Breach still turns your graveyard into extra spells for one turn. Escaping Dark Ritual for {B} returns {B}{B}{B}, as long as you have graveyard cards to exile.
How it does in Commander
As the commander
Underworld Breach is an enchantment, so it can never be a commander. It is played in the 99 of red combo decks, usually with blue.
In the 99
It belongs in Izzet or Grixis combo decks that already run Lion's Eye Diamond, Brain Freeze or Thassa's Oracle, where it is a two-mana engine that ends the game the turn it resolves. In a fair deck it is a one-turn burst of graveyard spells that you sacrifice at the end step.
Formats it's strong in
- cEDH. Two mana for the engine, a {0} artifact and a two-mana instant is a fast, compact win, and the Game Changer limits don't apply in Bracket 5.
- Bracket 4 storm and graveyard combo decks. Decks that fill their graveyard with tutors and cantrips have the fuel the escape costs need.
Formats it's weak in
- Tables with graveyard hate. Rest in Peace and Grafdigger's Cage stop it outright, and an instant-speed graveyard exile in the middle of the loop leaves you without escape fuel.
- Bracket 1 to 3 decks. As a Game Changer it is excluded from Brackets 1 and 2, and in Bracket 3 the combo uses most of the three Game Changer slots by itself.
Synergistic cards
Lion's Eye Diamond ↗
Discard your hand and sacrifice it for three mana of one color, then escape it for {0}. It is a Game Changer.
Brain Freeze ↗
Escapes for {1}{U} plus three other cards. Its storm copies mill three cards each, which keeps the graveyard full for the next pass.
Thassa's Oracle ↗
The cleanest finish: mill your own library, then escape the Oracle for {U}{U} and win on its trigger.
Dark Ritual ↗
Escapes for {B} and adds {B}{B}{B}, so it nets black mana each time you can exile three cards for it.
Is it worth the price?
Underworld Breach is mid-priced. Its original Theros Beyond Death printing has been joined by Special Guests, Mystery Booster 2 and Secret Lair versions. Lion's Eye Diamond is the expensive part of the combo: it is on the Reserved List, which keeps it from being reprinted.
Frequently asked questions
How does the Underworld Breach, Lion's Eye Diamond and Brain Freeze combo work?
With Breach on the battlefield: activate Lion's Eye Diamond for {U}{U}{U}, discarding your hand and sacrificing it. Cast Brain Freeze from your graveyard with escape for {1}{U} plus three other graveyard cards, targeting yourself. Then cast Lion's Eye Diamond back with escape for {0} plus three more cards. Each pass nets one blue mana and two more spells cast this turn, and Brain Freeze's storm copies mill more cards than the loop exiles once the storm count climbs.
How does the Breach loop win the game?
Point Brain Freeze copies at your opponents to mill their libraries, and each loses the next time they would draw from an empty library. For an immediate win, mill your own library instead and escape Thassa's Oracle for {U}{U} plus three cards: with no cards in your library, its trigger wins the game.
Is Underworld Breach a Game Changer?
Yes. Underworld Breach, Lion's Eye Diamond and Thassa's Oracle are all on the Game Changers list, so Brackets 1 and 2 can't run them and Bracket 3 decks can run three Game Changers in total. The full combo uses two or three of those slots on its own, which is why it is almost always a Bracket 4 or cEDH line.