Nemesis Mask
Artifact — Equipment
All creatures able to block equipped creature do so.
Equip 
(: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery.)
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Darksteel
- Price
- $9.19
- EDHREC rank
- #6967
Nemesis Mask forces every creature your opponents control to block the equipped creature — a three-mana equip that turns any attacker into a guaranteed combat wipe or a guaranteed connection depending on your game plan. Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer is the poster child for this effect, but any deck that wants blocks guaranteed or blockers cleared will reach for it.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer
Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer wants to be blocked by as many creatures as possible to stack poison counters and trigger its healing engine, and Nemesis Mask guarantees every blocker on the table piles in at once.
General Marhault Elsdragon
General Marhault Elsdragon rewards being blocked by pumping power, so Nemesis Mask converts a single attack into the maximum possible trigger count — every blocker means more damage and more value off the ability.
Maarika, Brutal Gladiator
Maarika, Brutal Gladiator deals damage to each creature that blocks her, so Nemesis Mask funneling the entire board into her path turns a single swing into a board wipe with a commander attached.
Anzrag, the Quake-Mole
Anzrag, the Quake-Mole untaps all your creatures when blocked, so equipping Nemesis Mask to a throwaway attacker forces every blocker to commit — then Anzrag's untap trigger hands you the full combat step a second time.
Toski, Bearer of Secrets
Toski, Bearer of Secrets draws a card for each creature that connects, and while Nemesis Mask pulls blockers away from your other attackers rather than onto Toski, the net effect is clearing the path so your whole team connects unimpeded.
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 |
Nemesis Mask is a Commander card — the effect only reaches its ceiling in a multiplayer game where you can redirect fifteen blockers at once. In Legacy and Vintage, three mana plus an equip cost for a conditional combat trick is too slow and too narrow against interaction-dense environments. Oathbreaker shares Commander's multiplayer math, and the same creature-heavy metas that make the Mask devastating there apply. Modern is legal on paper but the card sees essentially no play — aggressive and combo strategies in that format don't want to spend five total mana telegraphing an attack.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Goads like Shiny Impetus or Disrupt Decorum redirect attackers at a lower price point and don't require equipping, but they push creatures toward opponents rather than onto your own attacker, which is a fundamentally different use case. If the goal is purely clearing blockers rather than forcing mass blocks, Trample via cards like Grafted Exoskeleton or simply running evasion achieves a similar result for less mana — though none of them replicate the guarantee that Nemesis Mask provides.
Price Context
Current price
$9.19 mid tier
At $9.19, Nemesis Mask sits in the mid tier — meaningful spend for a single Equipment, but it's the only card that does exactly this in the rules. For the Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer and Maarika, Brutal Gladiator decks where it's a core engine piece rather than a flex slot, the price is justified.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer
- General Marhault Elsdragon
- Maarika, Brutal Gladiator
- Anzrag, the Quake-Mole
- Toski, Bearer of Secrets
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.