Desert's Hold
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
When this Aura enters, if you control a Desert or there is a Desert card in your graveyard, you gain 3 life.
Enchanted creature can't attack or block, and its activated abilities can't be activated.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Amonkhet Remastered
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #20462
Desert's Hold taps a creature and keeps it locked down as long as the enchantment sticks — and if you control a Desert, the target's controller loses 3 life on resolution, turning a pure answer into incidental pressure. Three mana for a Pacifism-variant is the cost, and in Commander that rate is acceptable only when the life-loss rider matters or the target is dangerous enough to justify enchantment-speed removal.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Desert's Hold slots cleanly into any white deck that can support a Desert subtheme — Amonkhet-flavored builds and land-type-matters commanders get the full two-clause effect, while everyone else is paying three mana for a Pacifism that leaves the creature on board. The weakness is universal to aura-based removal: a bounce spell or enchantment wrath returns the problem creature free of charge, which is a real liability at a four-player table. In competitive constructed formats like Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer it's outclassed by cheaper, harder removal that actually exiles or destroys, so it sees essentially no play there. Commander is the only home where the life-loss upside and flavor synergy give it a legitimate argument over cleaner alternatives.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Price data isn't available for Desert's Hold at the moment, but as a bulk enchantment from a Standard-legal set it typically sits in the penny-to-quarter range — not a financial decision either way. Pick it up if the Desert synergy is live in your deck; don't if you're just looking for white removal, where better options cost the same.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.