Off Balance
Instant
Target creature can't attack or block this turn.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Nemesis
- Price
- $0.13
- EDHREC rank
- #29973
Off Balance taps a creature and gives you a Clue — instant-speed interaction that replaces itself is the baseline for playability, and this clears it. One mana for a tap effect is narrow removal, but the built-in card advantage keeps it from being a throwaway.
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 |
In Commander, Off Balance earns a slot in decks that want cheap interaction stapled to draw — tap effects matter most when you're stopping an attack or interrupting an activated ability at instant speed. In Pauper, it competes with a deep pool of one-mana interaction, and the Clue can offset tempo loss in slower blue control shells. Legacy and Vintage don't want it; the power ceiling in those formats makes a one-mana tap irrelevant when opponents are winning on turn one or two. Off Balance is a Commander and Pauper card first, a curiosity everywhere else.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.13 bulk tier
At $0.13, Off Balance is bulk — you're paying for cardboard, not demand. Clue-payoff and artifact-synergy build trends could nudge casual interest, but this isn't a card that holds speculative value; grab a copy when you need one and don't think twice about it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.