Cowed by Wisdom
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can't attack or block unless its controller pays 
for each card in your hand.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Saviors of Kamigawa
- Price
- $0.12
- EDHREC rank
- #21793
Cowed by Wisdom caps a creature's power and toughness at the number of cards in its controller's hand — a ceiling that shrinks fast as opponents spend resources. It's narrow enough that only decks built around hand-size manipulation get real mileage from it, and everyone else has better Auras for three mana.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Cowed by Wisdom finds its only real home in Sram, Senior Edificer or Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin Aura builds that can stack enchantments quickly and want incidental disruption — but even there it competes with removal that just kills the creature outright. In Legacy and Vintage the card is technically legal and completely irrelevant; hand sizes are large enough early that the ceiling rarely bites, and threats are answered with countermagic anyway. Pauper is the one format where a three-mana Aura that conditionally shrinks a creature could theoretically survive on rate, but the condition is still too unreliable against aggro.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.12 bulk tier
At $0.12, Cowed by Wisdom is deep bulk — the price reflects demand, not scarcity. It won't hold or gain value, but it costs almost nothing to slot into a themed Aura deck if the effect fits your build.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.