Promise of Loyalty
Sorcery
Each player puts a vow counter on a creature they control and sacrifices the rest. Each of those creatures can't attack you or planeswalkers you control for as long as it has a vow counter on it.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Bloomburrow Commander
- Price
- $0.35
- EDHREC rank
- #1020
Promise of Loyalty clears the board of every creature but one per player, then locks those survivors into attacking someone other than you — a one-sided Ghostly Prison stapled to a Wrath. Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser turns that mandatory-attack clause into a draw engine, which is why this card shows up in 76% of her decks.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser
Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser draws cards whenever an opponent attacks someone other than you, and Promise of Loyalty mandates exactly that from every player at the table — it's a one-card activation of her entire game plan.
Commodore Guff
Commodore Guff wants to protect his planeswalkers from combat damage, and Promise of Loyalty removes the board while redirecting surviving attackers away from him, buying multiple turns for loyalty counters to accumulate.
Breena, the Demagogue
Breena, the Demagogue grows whenever players attack each other, so Promise of Loyalty's forced-attack clause turns every opponent's combat step into a +1/+1 counter trigger — while Breena herself survives as the chosen creature.
Killian, Decisive Mentor
Killian, Decisive Mentor reduces the cost of spells that target creatures, making Promise of Loyalty's five-mana ask feel lighter, and the Goad-like effect gives Killian decks a political tool that scales with the number of opponents at the table.
Ms. Bumbleflower
Ms. Bumbleflower builds around giving opponents spells and resources, and Promise of Loyalty fits as a high-impact reset that redirects aggression away from her while she continues setting up chaotic group interactions.
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 |
Promise of Loyalty is a Commander card through and through — its political mechanics only matter when three or more opponents are redirecting attacks around a table. In Legacy and Vintage, where it's technically legal, a five-mana sorcery that leaves each opponent with a creature is nowhere near competitive; those formats want interaction that costs one or two mana and wins the game, not manages it. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander 60-card variant where it could see fringe play, since the multiplayer table structure still makes the forced-attack clause relevant. Treat Promise of Loyalty as a Commander-exclusive card with legal status elsewhere that means nothing in practice.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.35 bulk tier
At $0.35, Promise of Loyalty is firmly bulk — cheap enough to throw into any Orzhov or Mardu politics build without a second thought. Given its near-universal inclusion in Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser lists and strong showings across several popular commanders, that price is unlikely to climb unless one of those commanders spikes in popularity.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.