Extortion
Sorcery
Look at target player's hand and choose up to two cards from it. That player discards those cards.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Mercadian Masques
- Price
- $0.40
- EDHREC rank
- #29127
Extortion turns every spell you cast into a drain-one that scales with opponent count — in a four-player pod that's three life lost and three gained per activation. At one white-black mana per trigger it's cheap enough to staple onto nearly every spell you cast, and the cumulative swing across a long game is real.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Extortion earns its slot — the three-opponent baseline means each trigger is a six-point life swing, and decks that cast many spells (aristocrats, token swarms, Orzhov lifegain) extract the most value. Legacy and Vintage are legal but offer no meaningful home; the enchantment is too slow and too narrow for those formats' threat density. Extortion simply doesn't exist in Modern, Pioneer, Standard, or Pauper, so Commander and Oathbreaker are the only real contexts, and Oathbreaker's smaller life totals make each trigger proportionally more punishing.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.40 bulk tier
At $0.40, Extortion is deep bulk — easy to pick up in any trade binder or bulk bin without a second thought. Demand is steady enough from Orzhov Commander players that it won't crater further, but there's no scarcity argument to justify paying more than bulk rate.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.