By Invitation Only
Sorcery
Choose a number between 0 and 13. Each player sacrifices that many creatures of their choice.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Innistrad: Crimson Vow Promos
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #8387
By Invitation Only is a one-sided board wipe — each opponent sacrifices creatures down to a number you name, and you name zero. The cost is five mana at sorcery speed, which is steep but standard for white sweepers; Malik, Grim Manipulator in particular loves it because sacrificed creatures trigger his drain-and-gain mechanic across the whole table.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Malik, Grim Manipulator
Malik, Grim Manipulator turns every sacrifice By Invitation Only forces into life loss for each opponent and life gain for you — a full table wipe becomes a massive life swing on top of clearing the board.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
By Invitation Only is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it's overwhelmingly a Commander card. In a four-player pod, the asymmetry is the entire point — you clear three opponents' boards while keeping yours intact, which no symmetrical wipe can match. In Modern or Legacy, a five-mana sorcery that doesn't affect your own board is far too slow against linear decks that win before turn four; white has cheaper, more efficient answers in those formats. Oathbreaker mirrors the Commander logic at a smaller table, and the card holds up there for the same reason: the political ceiling of naming a number that saves your key pieces while demolishing everyone else's is worth the mana.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for By Invitation Only isn't available in the current feed, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for a live number before buying. It's a niche but genuine Commander staple in sacrifice and asymmetric-wipe strategies, so demand from Malik and similar commanders tends to keep it from bottoming out.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Malik, Grim Manipulator
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.