Defend the Campus
Instant
Choose one —
• Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
• Destroy target creature with power 4 or greater.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Foundations Jumpstart
- Price
- $0.19
- EDHREC rank
- #23691
Defend the Campus gives you a surveil 2 stapled to a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control — card selection and a board buff on the same sorcery-speed play. It's a solid role-player in token-wide or counter-accumulation strategies, and negligible everywhere else.
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, Defend the Campus earns its slot in go-wide token decks or +1/+1 counter builds where the anthem effect touches five or more creatures — at that point it's a meaningful tempo swing with a free surveil attached. Outside of that context it underperforms; a board of one or two creatures makes the buff irrelevant and you're paying three mana for surveil 2, which is easy to beat. In Pauper it's legal but too slow at three mana for the formats' interactive tempo, and the non-evasive pump rarely closes games. Constructed formats like Modern and Pioneer have more efficient options at every axis this card touches, so Defend the Campus is a Commander card in practice.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.19 bulk tier
At $0.19, Defend the Campus is deep bulk — easy to acquire as a throw-in or out of a common box. Bulk commons with narrow applications don't appreciate, so don't expect the price to move.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.