Martial Law
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, detain target creature an opponent controls. (Until your next turn, that creature can't attack or block and its activated abilities can't be activated.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Return to Ravnica
- Price
- $0.14
- EDHREC rank
- #18413
Martial Law locks down one of your opponents' creatures each upkeep, stacking detain triggers across multiple turns and grinding combat to a halt. Three mana for a repeating soft-lock is real, but it costs white-blue and does nothing the turn it enters — be ready to protect it.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Martial Law actually matters — multiplayer tables give it multiple targets across upkeeps, and the cumulative detain pressure can neuter the most dangerous attacker or blocker each rotation. In 1v1 formats like Legacy, Modern, or Pioneer it's too slow and too fragile; three mana for a do-nothing enchantment that your opponent can ignore until they remove it is simply not competitive. Oathbreaker shares enough of Commander's multiplayer DNA that Martial Law can find niche use there, but the smaller starting life totals mean games end before the detain pile accumulates.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.14 bulk tier
At $0.14, Martial Law is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard and shipping, not the card. That price is stable because demand is minimal outside of niche Commander builds, so don't expect movement in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.