Contested Game Ball
Artifact
Whenever you're dealt combat damage, the attacking player gains control of this artifact and untaps it.
, 
: Draw a card and put a point counter on this artifact. Then if it has five or more point counters on it, sacrifice it and create a Treasure token.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
- Price
- $0.16
- EDHREC rank
- #15603
Contested Game Ball enters as a 0/4 that hands every opponent a counter — and whoever cashes in their counter gets to draw three cards and put it back into play, restarting the whole cycle. The card rewards the table for attacking you, which means you need a very specific reason to run it; in most lists, that tradeoff is too lopsided to justify.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Contested Game Ball is a politics piece that only works if you're built around punishing the triggers it generates or recycling the draw for your own benefit — Group Hug shells and Nekusar, the Mindrazer-style pain decks are the clearest homes. Competitive formats like Modern, Pioneer, and Legacy have no patience for a 0/4 with a delayed, opponent-dependent payoff; Contested Game Ball simply doesn't map onto anything those formats want to do. Standard is the one format where a grindy, recursive artifact can occasionally find a niche, but the card's ceiling is still narrow enough that it'll see fringe play at best. Across the board, treat this as a Commander-only consideration, and even there only in decks that actively exploit the draw-and-return loop.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.16 bulk tier
At $0.16, Contested Game Ball is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard, not scarcity. Don't expect the price to move; unless a Commander deck breaks the loop in a visible way, it stays at the floor.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.