MagicTheGathering.fyi

Jaws of Defeat

Enchantment

Whenever a creature you control enters, target opponent loses life equal to the difference between that creature's power and its toughness.

CMC
4
Mana cost
{3}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
rare
Set
Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander
Price
$1.27
EDHREC rank
#4731
Buy on TCGplayer
Jaws of Defeat card art
Jaws of Defeat redirects a spell targeting one of your permanents to an opponent's creature instead — turning their removal into your removal, for one mana. The Overkill ability squeezes extra value out of the exchange when the redirected spell connects fatally, and Felothar the Steadfast decks run it as close to mandatory as a single card gets.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Felothar the Steadfast

Felothar the Steadfast

85.6% of decks · synergy 0.69

Felothar the Steadfast triggers off creatures dying and spells resolving in ways that Jaws of Defeat exploits twice over — first by keeping Felothar's creatures alive, then by killing an opponent's creature with their own spell to fuel the engine.

02
Doran, Besieged by Time

Doran, Besieged by Time

61.6% of decks · synergy 0.45

Doran, Besieged by Time cares deeply about its high-toughness creatures surviving combat and targeted removal, and Jaws of Defeat turns a kill spell aimed at a key piece into a one-mana removal spell that keeps the Doran, Besieged by Time board intact.

03
Betor, Kin to All

Betor, Kin to All

57.4% of decks · synergy 0.41

Betor, Kin to All runs wide with creature-type synergies that collapse if a lord or payoff eats removal, so Jaws of Defeat does double duty — protecting the piece that matters and punishing the opponent who reached for a kill spell.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Jaws of Defeat is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it's a Commander card through and through. In Legacy and Vintage, counterspells and faster interaction make a one-mana redirect niche at best — you'd rather counter the spell outright than gamble on having a valid target to redirect to. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander format where it earns a real look, since signature spells and planeswalker-focused builds create enough targeted interaction to make the redirect live. Commander is where Jaws of Defeat does its best work: multiplayer tables generate constant targeted removal, the Overkill trigger is easy to satisfy when someone tries to kill your best creature, and one mana is an absurdly low ask for an instant-speed 2-for-1.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$1.27 cheap tier

At $1.27, Jaws of Defeat is cheap for what it does — efficient protection spells with meaningful upside rarely stay in the bulk bin for long once a commander popularizes them. It's an easy include at this price tier, and Felothar the Steadfast's 17,000-plus decks are more than enough demand to justify picking up copies now.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

← All cards

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