Controlled Instincts
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant red or green creature
Enchanted creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Conflux
- Price
- $0.09
- EDHREC rank
- #29670
Controlled Instincts locks a creature out of attacking or blocking for as long as it stays enchanted — a permanent soft-removal effect for one blue mana. It's one of the cheapest ways to neutralize a threat in Commander, and the cost is almost nothing.
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, Controlled Instincts earns a spot in any blue deck that needs cheap, repeatable ways to neutralize a single threat without spending removal on it — particularly useful against commanders that attack each turn. Legacy and Vintage have no practical interest in it; those formats answer creatures faster and more efficiently than a one-mana aura ever could. Modern technically allows it, but the same logic applies: Auras that don't affect the board immediately are too slow for a format full of Fatal Push and Solitude. Controlled Instincts is a Commander card through and through.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.09 bulk tier
At $0.09, Controlled Instincts is deep bulk — you'll find it in any commons box or as a throw-in. There's no financial case to make here; just pick one up and run it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.