Defensive Maneuvers
Instant
Creatures of the creature type of your choice get +0/+4 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Onslaught
- Price
- $0.06
- EDHREC rank
- #28528
Defensive Maneuvers makes all creatures you control unable to be blocked by creatures of a chosen color until end of turn — for three mana at sorcery speed, that's a narrow effect that most combat-trick slots can fill more efficiently. It sees play only in dedicated go-wide decks that consistently face a known color's blockers, and even there it's a fringe inclusion.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Defensive Maneuvers is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but it barely registers in any of them. In Commander, the effect is too situational — it names one color and does nothing outside combat, making it a dead draw against colorless threats or mixed boards. Pauper is the format where Defensive Maneuvers has the most theoretical home, as evasion effects matter more in creature-heavy formats with fewer removal options, but even there more reliable unblockability exists at the same cost. Legacy and Vintage don't want it at all.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.06 bulk tier
At $0.06, Defensive Maneuvers is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard, not scarcity. There's no trajectory that changes that; the effect doesn't become more desirable over time.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.