Despise
Sorcery
Target opponent reveals their hand. You choose a creature or planeswalker card from it. That player discards that card.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Friday Night Magic 2012
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #15515
Despise trades one mana for a creature or planeswalker out of the opponent's hand before it ever touches the battlefield — but it whiffs entirely on instants, sorceries, and artifacts, which limits its reliability. It's a role-player at best, not a staple.
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, Despise is too narrow: pods run enough non-creature threats that a discard spell missing artifacts, enchantments, and spells is actively risky as a blind pick. Constructed formats tell a cleaner story — in Modern and Pioneer, where creature and planeswalker threats define most aggressive and midrange strategies, Despise can slot in as a one-mana answer to a specific problem card. Legacy's density of non-creature combo pieces makes it a liability there too. It's legal in Oathbreaker and Vintage, but neither format rewards it over more flexible discard.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Price data isn't available for Despise right now, but it's a common with multiple printings, which historically keeps it at bulk or near-bulk rates. At that price point, the question isn't cost — it's whether the targeting restriction fits your specific meta.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.