Broken Dam
Sorcery
Tap one or two target creatures without horsemanship.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Portal Three Kingdoms
- Price
- $7.84
- EDHREC rank
- #24955
Broken Dam locks down a player's creatures by forcing them to tap during their upkeep, effectively buying you a full turn of safety from one threat source. It's a cheap, repeatable stax piece — narrow enough that you only run it when you specifically need to stall one opponent's board.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Broken Dam is a political tool in stax and control shells, letting you neutralize the most dangerous creature player at the table for a turn while you assemble your win — the enchantment's ongoing tap effect compounds over multiple upkeeps if left unanswered. In Pauper, it sees fringe play where cheap, persistent pressure on aggressive decks is worth a slot, though more efficient stax options tend to crowd it out. Legacy and Vintage both have access to Broken Dam, but the card doesn't compete with the raw power available in those formats. Oathbreaker mirrors Commander's dynamic at a smaller scale, where slowing down one opponent's creatures can be disproportionately impactful in a four-player pod.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Fumble and Blinding Fog cover some of the same defensive space at lower price points, though neither replicates Broken Dam's sustained per-upkeep tap pressure — they're one-shot effects rather than ongoing locks. If the goal is simply to neutralize a creature-based threat repeatedly, Meekstone is a harder stax piece that doesn't target a player but hits wide swaths of big creatures for comparable cost.
Price Context
Current price
$7.84 mid tier
At $7.84, Broken Dam sits in the mid tier — notable for a card with narrow application, and the price reflects scarcity more than ubiquity. It holds that value as a niche stax piece rather than a format staple, so don't expect it to appreciate, but it's unlikely to crater unless a reprint appears.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.