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Cowardice

Enchantment

Whenever a creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, return that creature to its owner's hand. (It won't be affected by the spell or ability.)

CMC
5
Mana cost
{3}{U}{U}
Color identity
U
Rarity
rare
Set
Eighth Edition
Price
$0.52
EDHREC rank
#18604
Buy on TCGplayer
Cowardice card art
Cowardice turns every targeted spell or ability into a free bounce effect — any creature that gets pointed at goes back to its owner's hand, yours included. The five-mana enchantment is a build-around, not an include: it punishes non-targeting decks unevenly and becomes a liability the moment a table runs Mirage Mirror or any bounce-your-own-stuff synergy against you.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Cowardice actually lives — five mana is acceptable in a 40-life format with ramp, and the political chaos it generates scales well with four-player tables full of removal and targeted interaction. In Legacy and Vintage it's a curiosity at best; five mana for a symmetrical enchantment that does nothing the turn it enters is nowhere near the speed those formats demand. Oathbreaker is theoretically legal but shares the same problem: the format moves too fast for a do-nothing-immediately enchantment to matter.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.52 bulk tier

At $0.52, Cowardice is deep bulk — you're not paying for power, you're paying for a niche enchantment that most stores have in a box somewhere. The price is stable because demand is narrow and supply is fine; don't expect it to move.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.