Deadly Alliance
Instant
This spell costs 
less to cast for each creature in your party. (Your party consists of up to one each of Cleric, Rogue, Warrior, and Wizard.)
Destroy target creature or planeswalker.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Zendikar Rising
- Price
- $0.11
- EDHREC rank
- #12699
Deadly Alliance destroys any creature or planeswalker at instant speed for three mana — no targeting restrictions, no conditions — as long as you control at least one Rogue or your party is full. The cost is real: you need board presence to unlock the unconditional mode, but in any party-matters shell that condition is trivially met, making this a clean, efficient answer.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
The Destined Warrior
The Destined Warrior wants every party member pulling weight, and Deadly Alliance doubles as both removal and a payoff for having a full party assembled — the two cards reward the same board state simultaneously.
Burakos, Party Leader // Folk Hero
Burakos, Party Leader // Folk Hero floods the board with party members to fuel Folk Hero's draw engine, so Deadly Alliance almost always fires in its unconditional mode while the deck is doing exactly what it wants.
Nalia de'Arnise
Nalia de'Arnise incentivizes stacking your board with Rogues and other party members, and Deadly Alliance is a natural fit — it removes any blocker or threat the moment Nalia's creatures are in play.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Deadly Alliance is a solid role-player in any party-matters deck and a passable removal spell even outside that archetype, since Rogues are common enough to satisfy the condition. Pauper is where it competes most seriously — unconditional instant-speed removal at common is rare, and the party condition is easy to meet in dedicated builds. In Modern and Pioneer it's too conditional to displace staple removal, and Legacy has far more efficient options. The card is legal across the board, but Commander and Pauper are the only formats where it earns a slot on merit.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.11 bulk tier
At $0.11, Deadly Alliance is bulk — pick it up without a second thought if your deck wants it. Bulk removal commons don't appreciate, but they don't need to; the value is in what it does on the board, not in the trade binder.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- The Destined Warrior
- Burakos, Party Leader // Folk Hero
- Nalia de'Arnise
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.