Dead Weight
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets -2/-2.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Shadows over Innistrad Remastered
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #13801
Dead Weight slaps -2/-2 on a creature permanently for one black mana — no tap, no window to respond on your turn, just a cheap enchantment that sticks. It kills most mana dorks and small utility creatures outright, and cripples anything in the two-toughness range.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Pauper, Dead Weight earns real consideration as a one-mana answer to the format's abundant one- and two-toughness threats, competing with Chainer's Edict and Victim of Night depending on what you need to hit. Modern and Pioneer have enough cheap, efficient removal that Dead Weight rarely makes the cut — Fatal Push does the same job better across a wider range of targets. In Legacy and Vintage, the bar is even higher and it doesn't clear it. Commander is where Dead Weight is least impressive: three- and four-toughness creatures are the floor, not the ceiling, so -2/-2 often just marks a creature for death without finishing it, and enchantment-based removal is easier to sweep away than instants.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Dead Weight is a common that has been printed multiple times, so copies are widely available and typically cost well under a dollar. It's an easy pickup — grab it out of a bulk bin rather than buying singles online.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.