Oppressive Will
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 
for each card in your hand.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Saviors of Kamigawa
- Price
- $0.18
- EDHREC rank
- #23547
Oppressive Will counters any spell for three mana — but only if you control more lands than the target spell's controller, a condition that flips from trivially met to useless depending on the board state. In Commander, where land counts swing wildly between players, it's too unreliable to earn a slot over unconditional options.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Oppressive Will competes against a deep pool of unconditional counterspells, and conditional permission needs to either cost one mana or provide a blowout effect to justify the slot — Oppressive Will does neither. The land-count condition is live early when ramp players flood the board, but that's exactly when opponents are casting cheaper spells you'd rather let through anyway; the expensive threats you most want to counter often come from the player who out-ramped you. In Pauper, where the card is legal, the format's tight mana curves make the condition harder to satisfy consistently, so it sits behind Counterspell and Logic Knot without argument. Legacy and Vintage have no interest in a three-mana conditional counter when Force of Will exists.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.18 bulk tier
At $0.18, Oppressive Will is deep bulk — a price that accurately reflects its marginal playability. Don't expect movement; conditional counterspells at three mana don't have a breakout waiting for them.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.