Chilling Grasp
Instant
Tap up to two target creatures. Those creatures don't untap during their controller's next untap step.
Madness 
(If you discard this card, discard it into exile. When you do, cast it for its madness cost or put it into your graveyard.)
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Eldritch Moon
- Price
- $0.10
- EDHREC rank
- #24174
Chilling Grasp taps up to two target creatures and keeps them tapped through your opponents' untap steps — effectively blanking two blockers or attackers for two full turns at instant speed. Two mana for that much board freezing is efficient, but the effect is temporary and card-neutral, which limits the ceiling.
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 |
Chilling Grasp is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it sees essentially no competitive play in any of them. In Commander it has a narrow niche in tap-matters or combat-lock strategies — think Derevi, Empyrial Tactician or Seedborn Muse shells where keeping creatures tapped has compounding value — but most blue decks would rather run a counterspell or a bounce spell that generates permanent card advantage. In older formats like Legacy and Vintage, the bar for a two-mana instant that doesn't affect the board state permanently is simply too high.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.10 bulk tier
At $0.10, Chilling Grasp is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard and postage, not the effect. That price isn't going anywhere; this is the kind of card that sits in bulk boxes indefinitely.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.