Friendly Rivalry
Instant
Target creature you control and up to one other target legendary creature you control each deal damage equal to their power to target creature you don't control.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- GR
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
- Price
- $0.20
- EDHREC rank
- #10061
Friendly Rivalry forces each opponent to sacrifice a creature at sorcery speed for just two mana — that's a table-wide Edict effect stapled to a single white card. In multicolored decks like Aragorn, the Uniter it pulls double duty, triggering color-specific abilities while clearing the path for combat.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Aragorn, the Uniter
Aragorn, the Uniter triggers off every white, blue, red, and green spell cast, so Friendly Rivalry — a white spell — fires his ability while simultaneously stripping a blocker from each opponent at once, making it one of the most efficient cards in the 99.
Jenny Flint // Madame Vastra
Jenny Flint // Madame Vastra cares about clue tokens and controlling the board, and Friendly Rivalry's three-way edict effect keeps threats off the table without costing card advantage, slotting cleanly into the control package.
Aragorn, Hornburg Hero
Aragorn, Hornburg Hero rewards Human tribal and wide combat, so Friendly Rivalry's role is simple: clear one blocker from each opponent before swinging and let the Human army do the rest.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Friendly Rivalry is a Commander card through and through — the three-opponent table is exactly where a single spell that hits every player becomes worth a card slot. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but wholly unplayed; sorcery-speed targeted sacrifice that doesn't interact with the stack has no home in formats where the game ends on turn one or two. Oathbreaker gives it the same multiplayer context as Commander, and the same logic applies. Don't bother looking for it in Standard, Pioneer, or Pauper — it's not legal in any of them.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.20 bulk tier
At $0.20, Friendly Rivalry sits firmly in bulk territory — you're paying nearly nothing for a legitimate multiplayer effect. Bulk white staples with consistent Commander demand tend to stay flat rather than crater further, so there's no reason to hesitate on picking up copies.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Aragorn, the Uniter
- Jenny Flint // Madame Vastra
- Aragorn, Hornburg Hero
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.