Hardlight Containment – Edge of Eternities
Date Reviewed: July 21, 2025
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.93
Casual: 3.83
Limited: 4.00
Multiplayer: 3.83
Commander [EDH]: 4.17
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
No matter how much time passes or how far we go – across the planes or into space – there will be spells that cost one white mana and exile a target creature. And just when you think they’ve run out of caveats or variations on it, they show you something like Hardlight Containment. It doesn’t try to imitate the truly high-power examples like Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, or Condemn; but it doesn’t really have to. Artifacts are at a high point right now, and getting another use out of something you would have been playing anyway is a good deal. So, for that matter, is having an incredibly cheap removal spell that still powers up cards like All That Glitters. Those kinds of decks obviously want this card, but even other kinds of decks will be checking their artifact count, just because the cost is so very right.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
Hardlight Containment is actually quite an interesting card; it’s efficient conditional removal, which reminds me of cards like Chained to the Rocks, though it also doubles as a way to protect the thing you’re using to pin it down. One mana is quite a good rate to get something to go away, and while not every deck has an artifact, plenty of them do, and if you’re desperate, artifact tokens do the job. But Edge of Eternities is a set with plenty of ways to meet the condition, and this is quite efficient and effective at making sure something you want gone…well, goes away.
As an aside, this would seem to work well with artifact lands, so it’s probably good that Ancient Den’s not legal in Modern or newer formats.
Constructed: 4.25
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 4.5
Thijs
Edge of Eternities is gonna be a very artifact-heavy set, which I don’t particularly dislike. Across all formats, artifacts always find a place in the meta, even though they conjure up a lot of debate.
This spell will be very welcome among the ‘yay’ isle of the artifact discussion. One white mana to exile a creature with no side effects (like the invincible Swords to Plowshares) is a quick and powerful way to get ahead.
The con is that enchantment and/or artifact removal is really cheap. Tons of cards like Abrade will undo these types of spells. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t be surprised if this card will find its way into for example Azorius Artifacts in Standard.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
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