Containment Membrane
Enchantment — Aura
Surge 
(You may cast this spell for its surge cost if you or a teammate has cast another spell this turn.)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Oath of the Gatewatch
- Price
- $0.07
- EDHREC rank
- #24396
Containment Membrane permanently taps a creature and strips its activated abilities — a clean answer to utility creatures that do their work through activations rather than combat. The three-mana convoke cost makes it cheaper than it looks, but it's still an aura, which means it trades down to removal.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Containment Membrane occupies a narrow slot — it handles activated-ability creatures like mana dorks and sacrifice outlets that other removal ignores, but the aura vulnerability holds it back from being a staple. Pauper is its strongest home: the convoke mechanic is fast in common-powered token decks, and permanent tap-lock is legitimately hard to answer at that card-quality ceiling. In Modern and Pioneer the competition from unconditional removal is steep enough that Containment Membrane rarely makes the cut outside of dedicated convoke shells. Legacy and Vintage have better options at every point on the curve, so play is essentially zero.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.07 bulk tier
At $0.07, Containment Membrane is deep bulk — you're picking it out of a commons box, not tracking it on a buylist. Bulk commons with narrow applications don't appreciate, so there's no financial reason to stockpile copies beyond the one or two you'd actually sleeve.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.