Detection Tower
Land
: Add 
.
, : Until end of turn, your opponents and creatures your opponents control with hexproof can be the targets of spells and abilities you control as though they didn't have hexproof.
- CMC
- 0
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Core Set 2019
- Price
- $2.50
- EDHREC rank
- #3539
Detection Tower lets your creatures and spells target hexproof creatures — a colorless answer to an effect most decks can't access outside green hate. The cost is that it taps for colorless and does nothing else, so it only earns its slot when targeting hexproof permanents is a real need, and Horobi, Death's Wail decks in particular depend on it to fire their engine past Bogles and totem-armored threats.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Horobi, Death's Wail
Horobi, Death's Wail kills any creature that gets targeted, so hexproof is a hard wall against the entire strategy — Detection Tower tears that wall down, letting Horobi's death trigger reach creatures that would otherwise sit untouchable.
Kelsien, the Plague
Kelsien, the Plague needs to deal damage to enemy creatures to collect experience counters, and hexproof blockers shut that clock down completely — Detection Tower opens those targets back up so Kelsien keeps growing.
Toshiro Umezawa
Toshiro Umezawa recasts instants from the graveyard whenever an opponent's creature dies, making targeted removal his engine, and hexproof creatures exempt themselves from that whole system — Detection Tower forces them back into range.
Legolas, Master Archer
Legolas, Master Archer pings creatures to generate value and taps them down, but hexproof creatures are immune to those activated ability targets — Detection Tower makes every creature on the board a legal mark.
Eriette of the Charmed Apple
Eriette of the Charmed Apple auras opponents' creatures to drain life and control the board, and hexproof stops those Auras from being attached in the first place — Detection Tower patches that gap cleanly.
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 |
Detection Tower is a Commander card in practice — the hexproof problem it solves is most acute in a multiplayer format where one opponent can park a Sigarda, Host of Herons or a Slippery Bogle and hold it forever while the table scrambles. In Legacy and Vintage, the card sees virtually no play because removal suites are deep enough and fast enough that hexproof permanents aren't a recurring threat worth a land slot. Modern and Pioneer have hexproof creatures in competitive builds, but Detection Tower competes against proactive interaction that beats hexproof by going over or around it, which tends to win out. Commander is the format where Detection Tower earns consistent inclusion, specifically in decks whose core engine relies on targeting creatures — the Tower turns a hard shutdown into a one-mana activation.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$2.50 cheap tier
At $2.50, Detection Tower sits in comfortable budget territory — cheap enough to slot into any Commander deck that needs it without meaningful cost. Colorless utility lands at this price point rarely spike unless they enable a breakout combo, and Detection Tower's role is narrow enough that the price should stay flat.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.