Press the Enemy
Instant
Return target spell or nonland permanent an opponent controls to its owner's hand. You may cast an instant or sorcery spell with equal or lesser mana value from your hand without paying its mana cost.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
- Price
- $0.47
- EDHREC rank
- #5524
Press the Enemy taps up to two target creatures an opponent controls and replaces itself by drawing a card — all for two mana at instant speed. That combination of tempo, selective removal, and card neutrality makes it an easy inclusion in any blue Commander deck that wants to survive until its engine comes online, and it's the reason Gandalf of the Secret Fire runs it in over half its builds.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Gandalf of the Secret Fire
Gandalf of the Secret Fire copies instants and sorceries when you cast them with excess mana, so Press the Enemy at instant speed draws two cards and taps four creatures for three mana — the kind of swing that wins combat and refills your hand simultaneously.
Saruman of Many Colors
Saruman of Many Colors rewards you for casting spells of the same type back-to-back, and Press the Enemy slots neatly into instant chains that keep opponents' blockers tapped while Saruman builds toward his amass payoffs.
The Emperor of Palamecia
The Emperor of Palamecia wants cheap instants to trigger his spell-cast abilities, and Press the Enemy pulls double duty by stalling attackers or blockers at a critical moment while fueling the Emperor's engine.
Lord of the Nazgûl
Lord of the Nazgûl wins through Wraith token swarms, and Press the Enemy clears the path for an alpha strike by tapping down the two most dangerous blockers at instant speed with no card investment.
Saruman, the White Hand
Saruman, the White Hand cares about spell quantity and amass triggers, and Press the Enemy is a cheap, card-neutral instant that advances the spell count while keeping opponents' best creatures off-axis for a turn.
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 |
Press the Enemy is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but its real home is Commander — a format where tapping two blockers at instant speed can redirect an entire combat, and drawing a card on top means you're not paying a resource for the privilege. In Modern and Legacy, two mana at sorcery speed would be unplayable interaction, but even at instant speed, dedicated tap effects don't compete with the format's harder removal and counterspells. Oathbreaker gives it a niche role in blue spell-slinging shells that want cheap instants to chain, much like its Commander applications. Anywhere outside those slower, multiplayer environments, Press the Enemy is too low-impact to register.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.47 bulk tier
At $0.47, Press the Enemy sits firmly in bulk territory, and that price is stable — it's a common with a narrow enough appeal that demand won't push it higher, but its utility in blue Commander decks means it won't disappear from lists either. Pick it up alongside other commons; there's no reason to track this one separately.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Gandalf of the Secret Fire
- Saruman of Many Colors
- The Emperor of Palamecia
- Lord of the Nazgûl
- Saruman, the White Hand
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.