Amber Prison
Artifact
You may choose not to untap this artifact during your untap step.
, 
: Tap target artifact, creature, or land. That permanent doesn't untap during its controller's untap step for as long as this artifact remains tapped.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Classic Sixth Edition
- Price
- $0.37
- EDHREC rank
- #22814
Amber Prison locks down any permanent — land, creature, planeswalker, artifact, anything — as long as you keep paying four mana per turn to keep it tapped. That recurring cost is a real tax in Commander, and four mana to deploy plus four each upkeep makes Amber Prison a clunky answer when targeted removal does the same job once for less.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Amber Prison is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it sees essentially no competitive play in any of them. In Commander, the permanent lock is uniquely broad — hitting lands is something most white removal can't do — but the four-mana-per-upkeep toll pricing makes it unsustainable in a long multiplayer game. Legacy and Vintage have access to far more efficient lock pieces, so Amber Prison never makes the cut there. It occupies a narrow niche in Oathbreaker or casual Commander where the flexibility to name any permanent type occasionally justifies the cost.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.37 bulk tier
At $0.37, Amber Prison is firmly bulk — cheap enough to throw in a pile trade without a second thought. Bulk status is stable here; there's no competitive demand to push the price and the card sees minimal play across all formats.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.