Choke
Enchantment
Islands don't untap during their controllers' untap steps.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Eighth Edition
- Price
- $0.98
- EDHREC rank
- #16720
Choke locks every Island its controller doesn't tap down permanently — the moment it resolves against a blue player, their mana base is crippled for as long as the enchantment lives. Decks running Stormtide Leviathan or Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood can weaponize this further, turning a hate piece into an asymmetric engine that punishes blue opponents while fueling their own gameplan.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood
Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood floods the battlefield with Islandwalk creatures and land-type manipulation, and Choke fits as both a political hammer and a self-synergy piece — when your own Islands are already doing double duty for Xolatoyac's triggers, locking opponents' out of theirs is the natural follow-up.
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 |
In Commander, Choke is a high-variance silver bullet: in a pod with two or more blue decks it can swing a game single-handedly; in an all-Gruul pod it's a dead card. Legacy sees it as a sideboard staple against blue control, where a turn-two Choke off a green accelerant can strand Brainstorm and Force of Will in hand before the opponent untaps. Modern has enough non-Island blue mana sources that Choke's impact is narrower, making it a fringe sideboard option rather than a go-to. Vintage is simply too fast and too full of artifact mana for three mana to matter the way it does in Legacy.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Stormtide LeviathanChokeSeedborn Muse
Lands do not untap; Lands your opponents control do not untap; Lock; Mass Land Denial
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Stormtide LeviathanChokeWilderness Reclamation
Lands do not untap; Lands your opponents control do not untap; Lock; Mass Land Denial
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Stormtide LeviathanChokeBear Umbra
Lands do not untap; Lands your opponents control do not untap; Lock; Mass Land Denial
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.98 bulk tier
At $0.98, Choke sits firmly in bulk territory despite being a legitimate tournament sideboard card with decades of Legacy play behind it. That price reflects its narrow targeting — it's a one-format role-player in 60-card and a high-risk include in Commander — so the low floor is accurate and unlikely to move without a format shift.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.