Exclude
Instant
Counter target creature spell.
Draw a card.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $0.15
- EDHREC rank
- #9021
Exclude counters a creature spell and replaces itself — that's the whole pitch, and it's a clean one. Three mana is the ceiling for a counterspell that draws a card, and Baral, Chief of Compliance makes it a two-mana cantrip, which pushes it from playable into genuinely good.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Baral, Chief of Compliance
Baral, Chief of Compliance reduces Exclude to two mana, turning an already-efficient spell into a cantrip that fuels Baral's loot trigger on top — you're drawing, filtering, and holding up interaction all at once.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Exclude occupies a specific niche: cantripping counterspells are at a premium because card advantage is harder to come by in a 99-card singleton format, and creature spells are the most common thing worth countering. It won't displace Counterspell or Arcane Denial in most lists, but in spell-matters decks and cost-reduction builds it earns its slot. In Pauper, where the card pool is restricted, Exclude is a legitimate option — three mana is steep but the card draw partially offsets the tempo loss. Legacy and Vintage have far cheaper and less conditional countermagic, so Exclude sees essentially no play there.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.15 bulk tier
At $0.15, Exclude is bulk — grab a copy out of any common box without thinking twice. Demand is steady enough to keep it in print but never high enough to push the price anywhere, so it'll stay in this range indefinitely.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.