Tear AsunderHow it works & interactions with other cards

A Choice of Two Paths

Tear Asunder has two modes determined at the moment you cast it. For its base cost of one green and one generic mana, it targets and exiles an artifact or enchantment. However, if you pay the additional black and generic mana for the Kicker cost, the targeting criteria expands significantly. A kicked Tear Asunder can target any nonland permanent, which includes creatures, planeswalkers, and battles, in addition to artifacts and enchants.

Resolution and Exiling

When Tear Asunder resolves, it exiles the target rather than destroying it. This is a crucial distinction in Magic: The Gathering, as it bypasses 'indestructible' effects and prevents the card from being recurred from the graveyard. If the spell was kicked, the entire effect is replaced by the ability to exile any nonland permanent. Note that you must choose whether or not to kick the spell as you put it on the stack; you cannot change your mind later.

Strategic Timing

Because it is an instant, you can use Tear Asunder during an opponent's end step or in response to a specific activation. Common mistakes involve forgetting that a kicked Tear Asunder is still a single-target spell; you do not get to exile an artifact AND another permanent. You simply get to choose a more diverse range of targets for that one exile effect.

Interaction examples

Surmounting Indestructibility

Heroic Intervention

If your opponent casts Heroic Intervention to protect their board, their permanents gain indestructible. Unlike Beast Within, which destroys a target, Tear Asunder exiles its target. Because exiling does not count as destruction, Tear Asunder will successfully remove the targeted permanent even if Heroic Intervention has resolved.

Comparing Removal Efficiency

Beast Within

While Beast Within can hit any permanent (including lands) for three mana, it leaves the opponent with a 3/3 Beast token. Tear Asunder, when kicked for four total mana, exiles a nonland permanent without leaving a token behind. This makes Tear Asunder a cleaner answer for high-threat creatures or planeswalkers where you want to ensure the card is gone for good.