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Isochron Scepter

Artifact

Imprint — When this artifact enters, you may exile an instant card with mana value 2 or less from your hand.
{2}, {T}: You may copy the exiled card. If you do, you may cast the copy without paying its mana cost.

CMC
2
Mana cost
{2}
Color identity
C
Rarity
uncommon
Set
The List
Price
$18.26
EDHREC rank
#710
Buy on TCGplayer
Isochron Scepter card art
Isochron Scepter turns any instant with mana cost two or less into a repeatable resource engine — lock pieces, counterspells, removal, ramp — every single turn for two mana. The ceiling is Dramatic Reversal under Urza, Lord High Artificer, which generates infinite mana and ends games on the spot.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

02
Azami, Lady of Scrolls

Azami, Lady of Scrolls

46.9% of decks · synergy 0.30

Azami, Lady of Scrolls wants a counterspell or draw spell firing every turn, and Isochron Scepter delivers exactly that without spending additional cards from hand.

03
Baral, Chief of Compliance

Baral, Chief of Compliance

40.5% of decks · synergy 0.23

Baral, Chief of Compliance reduces spell costs and rewards casting instants, so Isochron Scepter's two-mana activation becomes effectively one — every iteration of the loop now draws a card and cycles.

05
Memnarch

Memnarch

38.6% of decks · synergy 0.21

Memnarch runs dense artifact synergy and needs blue mana repeatedly — Isochron Scepter on a mana-positive instant or an untap spell keeps the engine churning without burdening the draw engine.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Commander is where Isochron Scepter does its real work — the singleton format rewards its ability to rebuy a single powerful instant indefinitely, and the Dramatic Reversal combo is a known quantity in high-powered pods. In Legacy, it sees fringe play as a lock piece with Orim's Chant or a recursion engine, though the format's pace and interaction density make it a corner-case choice rather than a staple. Vintage has access to more broken things to do on turn two, so Isochron Scepter rarely earns a slot there. Pioneer and Standard have no access to it, and Pauper's restriction to common printings rules it out entirely. Oathbreaker offers another home given the smaller deck size and the format's tolerance for two-card wins built around the signature spell slot.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

There's no true budget replacement for Isochron Scepter — the core value is repeatable instant recursion, and nothing at a lower price point replicates that cleanly. Runechanter's Pike or Spellbinder offer adjacent effects but require combat or specific triggers rather than a clean two-mana activation, so you're trading consistency for a few dollars in savings.

Price Context

Current price

$18.26 mid tier

At $18.26, Isochron Scepter sits in the mid tier — expensive enough to feel like a deliberate inclusion, cheap enough that any deck built around it should just run it. It has held this price range through multiple reprints, which signals genuine sustained demand rather than a spike, so it's a reasonable place to spend if your deck actually wants the combo.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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