Forbidden Friendship
Sorcery
Create a 1/1 red Dinosaur creature token with haste and a 1/1 white Human Soldier creature token.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths
- Price
- $0.27
- EDHREC rank
- #11281
Forbidden Friendship puts two bodies on the board at instant speed for two mana — one Human token and one Dinosaur token — which is a real rate when you can use both immediately. The catch is the haste limitation: the tokens lack haste, so the payoff is a turn delayed unless you have a dedicated enabler like Zada, Hedron Grinder copying the spell across your board before combat.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Zada, Hedron Grinder
Forbidden Friendship is one of the cheapest instant-speed token producers you can target Zada, Hedron Grinder with, letting you flood the board with Human and Dinosaur tokens for every creature you already control — all at once, on your opponent's end step.
Magnus the Red
Magnus the Red taxes your opponents' spells while rewarding you for casting your own, and Forbidden Friendship is exactly the kind of cheap, token-generating instant that turns Magnus's discount ability into a two-for-one every time you cast it.
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 |
In Commander, Forbidden Friendship earns its slot almost exclusively in token-doubling or copy-spell shells — the two distinct token types are largely incidental, and what matters is the instant speed and the low mana cost. Outside Commander, it sees negligible competitive play: Pauper and Pioneer have access to it, but token strategies in those formats have cheaper or more efficient options that do one thing better rather than two things adequately. Legacy and Vintage can run it but never will. The card's design is Commander-specific in practice even if it's broadly legal.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.27 bulk tier
At $0.27, Forbidden Friendship is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard, not scarcity. That price is stable because demand is narrow and supply is high; don't expect movement in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Zada, Hedron Grinder
- Magnus the Red
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.