Induce Despair
Instant
As an additional cost to cast this spell, reveal a creature card from your hand.
Target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the revealed card's mana value.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Duel Decks: Zendikar vs. Eldrazi
- Price
- $0.08
- EDHREC rank
- #27261
Induce Despair trades a creature for a -X/-X effect where X is the revealed card's mana value, which sounds flexible until you realize it whiffs entirely if you reveal a noncreature or a zero-cost card. It's conditional removal that requires you to reveal your hand, and that combination of drawbacks disqualifies it from most serious lists.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Induce Despair is a bulk rare in every format where it's legal, and the reason is consistent: better unconditional removal exists at the same or lower cost in every environment. In Commander, the singleton format most tolerant of narrow cards, it still loses the audition to staples that don't ask you to reveal your hand or gamble on a high-mana-value topdeck. Pauper is the one context where the card pool thins enough to warrant a second look, particularly in reanimator shells that naturally stock high-CMC creatures and want early interaction, but even there the competition is stiff. Legacy and Vintage don't give it a second glance.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.08 bulk tier
At $0.08, Induce Despair sits firmly in bulk territory and is unlikely to climb out of it. There's no competitive demand driver in sight, so treat it as a free inclusion for a casual pile and nothing more.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.