Eye of Malcator
Artifact
When this artifact enters, scry 2. (Look at the top two cards of your library, then put any number of them on the bottom and the rest on top in any order.)
Whenever another artifact you control enters, this artifact becomes a 4/4 Phyrexian Eye artifact creature until end of turn.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Phyrexia: All Will Be One
- Price
- $0.08
- EDHREC rank
- #22696
Eye of Malcator gives your artifacts ward 1 — a real tax that slows down spot removal in the early game — and its own protection clause means it's harder to answer than most enchantments at this cost. Two mana for a passive that blankets your entire artifact suite is a clean rate, and in the right deck it earns its slot without question.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Eye of Malcator is a Commander card — full stop. Blanket ward 1 across every artifact you control is meaningful in a multiplayer environment where opponents are spending singleton removal and have to decide whether the extra mana is worth it. In 1v1 formats like Modern or Legacy, ward 1 is a minor inconvenience that opponents pay without hesitation, and two mana for a do-nothing enchantment is too slow when games are decided by turn four. Pauper is the only non-Commander format where it might see fringe play in an artifacts-matter shell, but even there the payoff is underwhelming. Stick to Commander, and specifically to artifact-dense builds where the ward tax compounds across enough permanents to actually shift combat math and removal sequencing.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.08 bulk tier
Eye of Malcator sits at $0.08 — pure bulk, easy to pick up in any trade binder or as a throw-in. At that price there's no financial reason to hesitate, though don't expect the tag to move; it's a narrow enchantment in a crowded two-mana slot and demand will stay low.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.