Isildur's Fateful Strike
Legendary Instant
(You may cast a legendary instant only if you control a legendary creature or planeswalker.)
Destroy target creature. If its controller has more than four cards in hand, they exile cards from their hand equal to the difference.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
- Price
- $1.38
- EDHREC rank
- #9471
Isildur's Fateful Strike destroys any legendary permanent — creatures, planeswalkers, equipment, sagas, the lot — for two mana at instant speed, and the Ring-tempts-you rider is upside, not a drawback. The catch is the restriction: non-legendary targets are off-limits, so it blanks against token swarms and utility creatures with no title. In legendary-dense metas like Commander, that restriction barely registers, and Kethis, the Hidden Hand decks run it precisely because nearly everything on their board and their opponents' boards qualifies.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Kethis, the Hidden Hand
Kethis, the Hidden Hand casts legendary spells from the graveyard, which means Isildur's Fateful Strike can be replayed as removal again and again once it hits the bin — it's a recursive answer to the legendary threats that saturate Commander tables.
Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge
Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge draws a card whenever a legendary permanent enters, and Isildur's Fateful Strike tempts the Ring on resolution, so the spell pulls double duty: it clears a threat and advances the Ring-bearer subtheme that Shanid lists lean into.
Frodo, Sauron's Bane
Frodo, Sauron's Bane cares about the Ring tempting you, and Isildur's Fateful Strike guarantees a Ring trigger on every cast — making it removal that actively advances Frodo's game plan rather than just slowing opponents down.
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 |
Commander is where Isildur's Fateful Strike earns its slot — every table has commanders, legendary artifacts like The One Ring, and powerful sagas, all of which are valid targets. Two-mana instant-speed removal that hits any permanent type in those categories is meaningfully flexible, and the Ring trigger is free value on top. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but essentially irrelevant; Swords to Plowshares and Force of Will define those formats, and the legendary restriction makes Isildur's Fateful Strike too narrow for the threat diversity there. Oathbreaker benefits from the same logic as Commander — legendary planeswalkers are the oathbreakers themselves, so this is a clean answer to the central permanents of the format.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.38 cheap tier
At $1.38, Isildur's Fateful Strike sits in the range where it's an easy include — no budget justification needed, and it costs less than most functional removal spells at this power level. Demand is tied almost entirely to Lord of the Rings Commander decks, so the price is stable rather than climbing.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.