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Damping Matrix

Artifact

Activated abilities of artifacts and creatures can't be activated unless they're mana abilities.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{3}
Color identity
C
Rarity
rare
Set
Modern Masters 2017
Price
$0.55
EDHREC rank
#15197
Buy on TCGplayer
Damping Matrix card art
Damping Matrix shuts down activated abilities on artifacts and creatures — no equipment, no mana rocks, no combo creatures, no Planeswalker-style tap abilities — for three mana with no ongoing cost. The catch is that it hits your own board just as hard, which is why it almost exclusively shows up in decks built around doing nothing, like Lethal Vapors lock piles under Jasmine Boreal of the Seven.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Jasmine Boreal of the Seven

Jasmine Boreal of the Seven

22.8% of decks · synergy 0.22

Jasmine Boreal of the Seven wants to assemble lock pieces that prevent anyone from doing anything, and Damping Matrix slots neatly into that gameplan by neutering the activated abilities opponents would use to break out of the soft-lock.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

In Commander, Damping Matrix occupies a narrow but real niche as a prison piece — it stops mana rocks from tapping, shuts off combo creatures, and neuters equipment, all in one card. The decks that want it are built to ignore those restrictions themselves, usually by winning through static abilities or triggered effects rather than activated ones. In Legacy and Vintage, it's a fringe sideboard option against artifact-based combo, but Collector Ouphe and Null Rod do the same job for creatures and artifacts respectively without the broader blowback. Modern has similar alternatives, and Damping Matrix rarely competes there. Oathbreaker can use it in the same prison shells that Commander does.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.55 bulk tier

At $0.55, Damping Matrix sits firmly in bulk territory despite being a genuine staple in a specific Commander archetype. It's been reprinted enough to keep the price suppressed, so it's unlikely to spike — pick it up cheaply and don't expect it to appreciate.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.