Presence of the Master
Enchantment
Whenever a player casts an enchantment spell, counter it.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Legends
- Price
- $11.13
- EDHREC rank
- #25400
Presence of the Master shuts down every activated ability on every enchantment on the board — a permanent, unconditional lockpiece that hits combo pieces, utility enchantments, and problem permanents simultaneously. At three mana, it costs less than Guile and asks nothing beyond an enchantment type to make the effect stick.
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 |
Commander is where Presence of the Master does its real work — four opponents means a dramatically higher density of enchantments with activated abilities across the table, and a single copy locks all of them simultaneously. In Legacy and Vintage, the card is technically legal but faces a much narrower range of enchantment targets and competes against faster, more efficient disruption, so it almost never sees play. Oathbreaker shares Commander's enchantment-heavy environment but the smaller deck size and faster games mean Presence of the Master is slower to matter. Outside those formats, it's not legal anywhere.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Suppression Field covers similar ground at a lower price point — it taxes all activated abilities across all permanent types, which is broader but hits your own permanents too, a real cost in creature-heavy builds. Presence of the Master's enchantment-only scope is actually a feature in dedicated enchantress decks where you want to lock opponents without taxing your own engine.
Price Context
Current price
$11.13 mid tier
At $11.13, Presence of the Master sits in the mid tier — expensive for a niche enchantment-specific lockpiece, but the effect is genuinely unique and has no direct functional reprint. The price is driven almost entirely by Commander demand in enchantress builds, and that demand is stable enough that the tag is unlikely to collapse.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.