Condemn
Instant
Put target attacking creature on the bottom of its owner's library. Its controller gains life equal to its toughness.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Magic Player Rewards 2007
- Price
- $2.52
- EDHREC rank
- #4536
Condemn puts an attacking creature on the bottom of its owner's library for one white mana — permanent removal, not a delay, and it dodges indestructible entirely. The life gain clause is irrelevant noise; what matters is that a Blightsteel Colossus or a voltron commander like Obuun, Mul Daya Ancestor swinging at you simply ceases to exist.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Obuun, Mul Daya Ancestor
Obuun, Mul Daya Ancestor turns lands into large attackers, and the moment those animated lands swing at you, Condemn exiles the problem without a trace — no graveyard recursion, no recast, just gone.
Wyleth, Soul of Steel
Wyleth, Soul of Steel stacks auras and equipment to create a single enormous threat, and Condemn is the clean one-mana answer that removes it during the attack step before combat damage resolves, bypassing any protection or indestructibility the equipment stack provides.
Kangee, Sky Warden
Kangee, Sky Warden builds a wide board of flying attackers, and Condemn handles the biggest inbound threat for a single mana without requiring you to match the board in creature count.
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, Condemn earns its slot as one of the cheapest permanent-removal spells in white — the attacking restriction is rarely a real constraint since the most dangerous threats are almost always swinging at someone. In Legacy and Vintage, it competes with Swords to Plowshares, which has no attacking restriction and is strictly more flexible; Condemn sees play only in lists that want redundancy on the same effect. Modern is where Condemn finds its most contested home — the attacking clause is a real downside against combo and control, but the one-mana ceiling and library-bottom destination (dodging graveyard synergies) give it a narrow edge in certain aggro-hate builds. Oathbreaker mirrors the Commander read: cheap, reliable, permanent.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$2.52 cheap tier
At $2.52, Condemn sits at the high end of cheap removal for a common, reflecting its reliable Commander demand rather than scarcity. It holds that price steadily — it's not a card that spikes or crashes, just a staple that players keep needing.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.