Oath of Mages
Enchantment
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player chooses target player who has more life than they do and is their opponent. The first player may have this enchantment deal 1 damage to the second player.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Exodus
- Price
- $0.50
- EDHREC rank
- #23229
Oath of Mages pings each opponent for 1 damage at the start of their upkeep if they have more life than you — passive, free pressure that scales up the moment you fall behind. It's narrow enough that only dedicated damage-accumulation strategies want it, but in those decks it earns its slot without asking anything of you.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Oath of Mages is a Commander card — full stop. In a four-player pod it can trigger up to three times per round, and the asymmetry bakes in naturally since group-slug and life-drain strategies frequently operate at lower life totals than opponents. Legacy and Vintage are legal formats on paper, but a one-damage conditional enchantment does nothing meaningful in those environments and will never see play there. Oathbreaker is the one alternative format where it could show up, again only in a damage-accumulation shell.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.50 bulk tier
At $0.50, Oath of Mages is pure bulk — you're not paying a premium for power, you're paying draft-chaff prices for a narrow enchantment. It holds that floor comfortably; there's no reprint pressure on a card this obscure and no sudden demand spike coming.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.