Mage's Guile
Instant
Target creature gains shroud until end of turn. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities.)
Cycling 
(, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Onslaught
- Price
- $0.19
- EDHREC rank
- #15425
Mage's Guile gives a creature hexproof until end of turn and replaces itself by cycling for one blue — the protection is real, but the rate is mediocre outside decks that specifically reward cycling. In Gavi, Nest Warden builds it earns its slot as a free cycle trigger, but anywhere else it's outclassed by spells that do more than one thing.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Gavi, Nest Warden
Gavi, Nest Warden makes the first cycle each turn free, which means Mage's Guile becomes zero-mana hexproof on demand — a protection spell that replaces itself at no cost is exactly the kind of redundancy those decks want.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Mage's Guile is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but it's a Commander card in practice. In Pauper it's technically playable, but hexproof-until-end-of-turn on a sorcery doesn't protect against the instant-speed removal that defines that format's threat landscape. Legacy and Vintage have no interest in a one-mana cycle spell that barely does anything without a synergy engine propping it up. Commander is the only format where Mage's Guile justifies a slot, and even there the job description is narrow: cycling payoff decks that want cheap, functional fodder to feed their triggers.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.19 bulk tier
At $0.19, Mage's Guile is firmly bulk — no deck is running it for its market value, and that price reflects how narrow its applications are. It's a safe pickup for any Gavi, Nest Warden build without budget concerns, but don't expect the price to move in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.