Collective Defiance
Sorcery
Escalate 
(Pay this cost for each mode chosen beyond the first.)
Choose one or more —
• Target player discards all the cards in their hand, then draws that many cards.
• Collective Defiance deals 4 damage to target creature.
• Collective Defiance deals 3 damage to target opponent or planeswalker.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Breaking News
- Price
- $0.25
- EDHREC rank
- #7338
Collective Defiance does three things at once — deal damage to a player, deal damage to a creature, and force a wheel — and you only need to escalate into the modes you actually want. The cost is that none of the modes are efficient on their own, so Collective Defiance earns its slot in decks that can copy it, not ones that cast it straight.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Riku of Many Paths
Riku of Many Paths copies instants and sorceries for two mana, which turns Collective Defiance's escalate menu into a full six-mode buffet — damage a player, damage a creature, wheel, and then do all three again on the copy.
Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh cares about red spells and untapping from damage triggers, and Collective Defiance provides a cheap red spell that also functions as a wheel to reload her hand or a burn spell to trigger her flip condition.
The Emperor of Palamecia
The Emperor of Palamecia rewards casting multiple spells and values wheel effects that feed a fresh hand of threats, making Collective Defiance's discard-and-draw mode a natural engine piece in that shell.
Rielle, the Everwise
Rielle, the Everwise grows and draws cards whenever you discard, so the wheel mode on Collective Defiance isn't just card parity — it's a free pump and a fresh hand of seven.
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 |
In Commander, Collective Defiance is a niche role-player: the wheel mode scales well when one opponent has to discard and redraw, and escalating all three modes for five mana is real if you have a copy effect in play. In Modern and Pioneer, it sees occasional sideboard use as a one-sided wheel that can also handle a blocker or dome a player, but the three-mode ceiling rarely justifies the mana investment over more focused options. Legacy and Vintage have enough broken wheels that Collective Defiance doesn't compete. Oathbreaker is probably its second-best home after Commander, where cheap spells with multiple modes punch above their weight.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.25 bulk tier
At $0.25, Collective Defiance is pure bulk — easy to acquire and easy to cut without regret. Bulk rare prices rarely move unless a deck archetype spikes in popularity, so treat this as a zero-cost inclusion in any deck that wants it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Riku of Many Paths
- Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
- The Emperor of Palamecia
- Rielle, the Everwise
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.