Dovin, Hand of Control
Legendary Planeswalker — Dovin
Artifact, instant, and sorcery spells your opponents cast cost 
more to cast.
−1: Until your next turn, prevent all damage that would be dealt to and dealt by target permanent an opponent controls.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- UW
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- War of the Spark
- Price
- $0.25
- EDHREC rank
- #8326
Dovin, Hand of Control lands as a two-mana artifact and instant tax, making every spell that hits you cost one more — an effect that compounds fast at a table of four. Grand Arbiter Augustin IV builds exploit it as redundancy, and Port Razer decks hate seeing it because each combat step costs more to answer.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV already squeezes opponents on mana, and Dovin, Hand of Control stacks on top — opponents paying extra for artifacts and instants on top of Augustin's general tax creates windows where interaction simply can't be cast on the turn it's needed.
Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
Lavinia, Azorius Renegade punishes spells cast without paying their mana cost, and Dovin, Hand of Control adds a layer by raising the floor on what opponents need to spend — together they make the free-spell and counterspell game significantly more expensive to play.
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, Dovin, Hand of Control earns its slot in tax-and-control shells by doing real work for two mana — slowing down the table's instants and artifact plays while being cheap enough to land early. Pioneer and Modern see it occasionally in sideboard configurations targeting artifact or spell-heavy strategies, but dedicated tax pieces like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben outclass it in those formats. Legacy and Vintage have stronger options at the same cost and rarely reach for it. Oathbreaker is the other spot where the effect shines, since the compact mana cost plays well under the format's tighter constraints.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Port RazerThrasta, Tempest's RoarOdric, Lunarch MarshalDovin, Hand of Control
Infinite combat damage; Infinite combat phases; Infinite mana creatures you control can produce; Infinite untap of creatures you control
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.25 bulk tier
At $0.25, Dovin, Hand of Control is bulk — easy to pick up as a throw-in. Bulk tax pieces rarely spike unless a deck breaks into mainstream prominence, so expect this price to hold flat.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.