Cut the Tethers
Sorcery
For each Spirit, return it to its owner's hand unless that player pays 
.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Champions of Kamigawa
- Price
- $0.11
- EDHREC rank
- #30830
Cut the Tethers bounces every creature that isn't a token unless its controller pays three mana — at five mana in a four-player pod, that's a table-wide tax that usually sends three to five creatures back to hand. The catch is sorcery speed and the opt-out clause, which means well-resourced opponents can pay to keep their best threat.
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 |
Commander is where Cut the Tethers does its best work — four opponents means the cumulative toll of the bounce-or-pay clause regularly strains multiple mana bases at once, and the effect scales with board density rather than falling flat when one player is ahead. In Legacy and Vintage it's too slow and too conditional; those formats have cheaper, unconditional answers that don't hand opponents a choice. Modern is the same story — paying five mana at sorcery speed for a symmetrical effect that savvy players can play around puts Cut the Tethers well outside competitive range there. Oathbreaker is a reasonable home for the same reason Commander is: multiplayer math amplifies the taxing effect.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.11 bulk tier
At $0.11, Cut the Tethers is deep bulk — you're picking it out of a commons box, not tracking it down. Bulk rares at this price rarely climb unless a format breaks them open, and nothing on the competitive horizon suggests that's coming.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.