Commence the Endgame
Instant
This spell can't be countered.
Draw two cards, then amass Zombies X, where X is the number of cards in your hand. (Put X +1/+1 counters on an Army you control. It's also a Zombie. If you don't control an Army, create a 0/0 black Zombie Army creature token first.)
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- War of the Spark Promos
- Price
- $1.41
- EDHREC rank
- #8265
Commence the Endgame drops an uncounterable Amass trigger that scales with hand size, then replaces itself — you're trading six mana for a token that can easily land as a 5/5 or larger plus a fresh card. The cost is real, but the uncounterable clause and the cantrip mean you're not just paying for a body; you're paying to ignore blue interaction and stay in the game.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Saruman, the White Hand
Saruman, the White Hand triggers off noncreature spells, and Commence the Endgame delivers both a payoff token and a cantrip in one shot — it's doing double duty as fuel and threat simultaneously.
Temmet, Naktamun's Will
Temmet, Naktamun's Will cares about putting +1/+1 counters on tokens, and Commence the Endgame drops a pre-countered Zombie Army token that Temmet can immediately buff further and push through as unblockable.
Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
Nicol Bolas, the Ravager decks lean on Grixis spells-matter and hand disruption, and Commence the Endgame slots in as a resilient, hand-size-scaling threat that rewards the discard pressure already baked into the archetype.
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 |
Commander is where Commence the Endgame earns its keep — the uncounterable clause matters enormously in a format where blue is at every table, and a hand size of six or seven at sorcery speed translates to a token that closes games on its own. In Modern and Pioneer, six mana is a steep ask for a sorcery-speed play in formats with faster clocks, and the Amass token rarely survives to attack before the opponent has already stabilized or won. Legacy and Vintage are theoretically legal but practically irrelevant — no competitive shell there is looking for this effect at this cost. Oathbreaker can support it in spell-heavy builds that match the Commander use case.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.41 cheap tier
At $1.41, Commence the Endgame sits firmly in budget territory — cheap enough to include on a whim in any blue Commander build that wants a resilient late-game threat. The price reflects its niche appeal rather than any ceiling; it's stable and accessible, not a card you need to chase.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Saruman, the White Hand
- Temmet, Naktamun's Will
- Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.