Angelic Arbiter
Creature — Angel
Flying
Each opponent who cast a spell this turn can't attack with creatures.
Each opponent who attacked with a creature this turn can't cast spells.
- CMC
- 7
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Commander 2011
- Price
- $3.99
- EDHREC rank
- #4902
Angelic Arbiter locks each opponent into choosing between casting spells or attacking — on a 5/6 flying body, that constraint is immediately backbreaking. Seven mana is the real cost, but Kaalia of the Vast puts it into play for free, dodging the price tag entirely.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Kaalia of the Vast
Kaalia of the Vast cheats Angelic Arbiter onto the battlefield the turn she connects, which means opponents face the restriction before they've had a chance to answer it — and doing so at instant speed off a combat trigger makes the lockdown nearly impossible to preempt.
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
Avacyn, Angel of Hope's indestructibility extends to Angelic Arbiter, turning a seven-mana threat into a near-permanent soft lock that opponents can't simply Doom Blade away.
Giada, Font of Hope
Giada, Font of Hope's cost reduction and anthem effect make Angelic Arbiter easier to cast and harder to trade into, fitting cleanly into an angel-tribal shell that's already applying consistent pressure.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Angelic Arbiter earns its keep — in a four-player game, forcing three opponents each to choose between spells or attacks every turn creates a cascading political and tactical disruption that scales in a way no 1v1 format can match. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but functionally irrelevant; seven mana for a taxing effect is not competitive in formats where games end on turn one or two. Oathbreaker is the one other format where it can see real play, particularly in white stax-adjacent builds that want to grind opponents to a halt before closing out with a planeswalker ultimate.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$3.99 cheap tier
At $3.99, Angelic Arbiter sits at the cheap end of the market for a card with genuine board impact and over 36,000 Kaalia of the Vast decks running it. That price is stable — widespread inclusion across multiple angel commanders keeps demand steady without spiking it.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.