Custody Battle
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature has "At the beginning of your upkeep, target opponent gains control of this creature unless you sacrifice a land."
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Onslaught
- Price
- $1.49
- EDHREC rank
- #12182
Custody Battle hands your opponent a creature they have to attack with every turn — turning their best blocker into a liability and feeding any sacrifice or donation engine you're running. The two-mana enchantment is a steal in decks built around giving things away, and a political headache for everyone else at the table.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Blim, Comedic Genius
Blim, Comedic Genius is built to donate permanents that punish their new owner, and Custody Battle fits perfectly — you give away something your opponent can't profitably attack with, forcing bad combat math while Blim drains them for holding it.
Iroh, Tea Master
Iroh, Tea Master rewards gifting permanents to opponents, and Custody Battle generates exactly that kind of forced interaction — the mandatory attack clause creates chaos that Iroh's political, resource-sharing gameplan is happy to exploit.
Zidane, Tantalus Thief
Zidane, Tantalus Thief wants creatures changing zones and crossing the table, and Custody Battle's ownership-swap mechanic creates the kind of repeated creature movement that triggers Zidane's theft and card-advantage engines.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Custody Battle is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it only really finds a home in Commander. Legacy and Vintage have no interest in a two-mana enchantment with this slow, politically-flavored payoff — those formats end before the mandatory-attack clause accumulates any real pressure. In Commander, it shines in Rakdos and Grixis builds that weaponize donated permanents, and it doubles as a political tool: slapping it on an opponent's biggest threat forces them into unfavorable attacks against a different player, buying you time without spending removal.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.49 cheap tier
At $1.49, Custody Battle sits at the low end of the cheap tier — accessible for any budget and easy to slot into a donation or theft list without hesitation. It's a niche card with a devoted audience, so the price is unlikely to move much in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Blim, Comedic Genius
- Iroh, Tea Master
- Zidane, Tantalus Thief
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.