Demoralize
Instant
All creatures gain menace until end of turn. (They can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.)
Threshold — If there are seven or more cards in your graveyard, creatures can't block this turn.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Odyssey
- Price
- $0.12
- EDHREC rank
- #21302
Demoralize taps all blocking creatures your opponents control and gives your attackers +1/+0 until end of turn — effectively a one-sided Fog that turns sideways instead of stopping combat. At three mana at instant speed, the effect is real, but it's a one-time burst with no lasting board impact, which makes it a fringe inclusion outside dedicated go-wide aggro shells.
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 |
In Commander, Demoralize earns a slot almost exclusively in token-based aggro decks that need to push through a stalled board — think Krenko, Mob Boss or Ghalta, Primal Hunger strategies where landing one unblocked swing ends the game. Outside that narrow lane, three mana for a combat trick doesn't pull enough weight across four players. In Pauper, where the card is also legal, aggressive red strategies occasionally use it to close games opponents think are stalemated, and the common rarity keeps it accessible. Legacy and Vintage are legal but irrelevant — the format speed makes Demoralize a non-starter.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.12 bulk tier
At $0.12, Demoralize is firmly bulk — you're buying it for pennies if a specific deck wants it. There's no price upside here; supply is deep and demand is too narrow for that to change.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.