Countermand
Instant
Counter target spell. Its controller mills four cards.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Journey into Nyx
- Price
- $0.13
- EDHREC rank
- #13778
Countermand counters a spell and mills the opponent for four — meaningful damage in any deck built around library depletion. Four mana is too expensive for a counterspell in most contexts, so it only earns a slot when the mill rider is actually doing work.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Bruvac the Grandiloquent
Bruvac the Grandiloquent doubles each mill trigger, turning Countermand's four-card mill into eight — that's a material chunk of a 99-card library for a single counterspell, which makes the four-mana cost much easier to justify.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Countermand is a role-player, not a staple — it belongs in dedicated mill decks, not general blue control builds, where four mana for a counterspell would get you laughed off the table. Bruvac the Grandiloquent and Phenax, God of Deception shells are the natural homes, where every mill trigger compounds. In Pauper, cheaper interaction dominates and the mill doesn't close games fast enough for Countermand to see play. Legacy and Vintage have access to counterspells so efficient that a four-mana option with a rider rarely competes, regardless of the effect.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.13 bulk tier
At $0.13, Countermand is firmly bulk — you'll find copies in any common box without effort. That price is stable indefinitely; there's no competitive demand to push it, and mill decks don't run so many copies that supply gets strained.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.