Brand of Ill Omen
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Cumulative upkeep 
(At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
Enchanted creature's controller can't cast creature spells.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Ice Age
- Price
- $1.46
- EDHREC rank
- #25298
Brand of Ill Omen locks a player out of casting their commander for as long as it stays attached — a hard, repeatable tax that scales with how commander-dependent the target is. Four mana to enchant a creature and the ongoing threat of recast costs make it a niche but punishing piece in the right shell.
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 |
Commander is the only format where Brand of Ill Omen earns its slot — targeting commanders is the entire point, and the card reads as a near-permanent soft lock against any player whose gameplan collapses without their general. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but irrelevant; those formats don't care about commander zones, and four mana for a creature Aura that doesn't win the game on the spot isn't a serious option. Brand of Ill Omen is a Commander card wearing Legacy legality like a costume.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.46 cheap tier
At $1.46, Brand of Ill Omen sits in the range where it costs less than a draft pack but demands a specific deck to justify the slot. It won't spike — the effect is too narrow — but it won't crater either, since casual Commander demand keeps slow-burn hosers like this from disappearing entirely.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.