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High Alert

Enchantment

Each creature you control assigns combat damage equal to its toughness rather than its power.
Creatures you control can attack as though they didn't have defender.
{2}{W}{U}: Untap target creature.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{1}{W}{U}
Color identity
UW
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Ravnica Allegiance
Price
$0.39
EDHREC rank
#5495
Buy on TCGplayer
High Alert card art
High Alert turns every high-toughness creature into an attacker without sacrificing the defensive math, and its activated ability means a second copy of the effect is always one mana away even when enchantment removal shows up. Axebane Guardian in particular becomes a mana engine that also swings for four or five, and Arcades, the Strategist decks run High Alert as a redundant win condition that doesn't require the commander to be on the battlefield.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Arcades, the Strategist

Arcades, the Strategist

82.2% of decks · synergy 0.76

Arcades, the Strategist already lets defenders attack using toughness, and High Alert gives the deck a second copy of that effect — so the engine keeps running through commander tax or a removal-heavy pod, with 82% of Arcades lists including it for exactly that redundancy.

02
Plagon, Lord of the Beach

Plagon, Lord of the Beach

39.0% of decks · synergy 0.38

Plagon, Lord of the Beach cares about creatures with high toughness and wants as many attack vectors as possible, and High Alert converts that defensive bulk into a real offensive threat without requiring additional pieces beyond the enchantment itself.

03
Pramikon, Sky Rampart

Pramikon, Sky Rampart

32.3% of decks · synergy 0.32

Pramikon, Sky Rampart builds up a wall of defenders to control the board, and High Alert flips that strategy by letting those walls suddenly attack — punishing opponents who let the pillow-fort player sit undisturbed for too long.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

High Alert sees essentially all of its competitive play in Commander, where the defender-matters archetype has enough support to build around and redundancy across a 99-card deck makes the effect consistently findable. In Modern and Pioneer it's a legal but fringe piece — aggressive formats move too fast for a three-mana enchantment that doesn't win on its own, and dedicated Defender combo lists prefer cheaper enablers. Legacy and Vintage offer more powerful tools than High Alert at the same role, so it doesn't see serious play there either. Commander is the correct home, and specifically in Arcades, the Strategist or any defender-tribal shell that wants to turn toughness into a clock.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.39 bulk tier

At $0.39, High Alert is firmly bulk — easy to acquire as a throw-in or in a common-pile pickup. Bulk enchantments with narrow tribal applications rarely appreciate, so don't expect the price to move unless a future set dramatically elevates the defender archetype.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.