Propaganda
Enchantment
Creatures can't attack you unless their controller pays 
for each creature they control that's attacking you.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Forgotten Realms Commander
- Price
- $3.63
- EDHREC rank
- #120
Propaganda forces every opponent to pay two mana per attacking creature before they can swing at you — for three mana, that's one of the most efficient deterrents in blue. It doesn't stop everything, but in a four-player pod it buys enough time to matter, and Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor in particular wants it in the 99 to keep the board stable while curses do their slow work.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor
Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor wants to win through curse attrition, not combat, and Propaganda is the insurance policy that keeps aggressive opponents off you long enough for the enchantments to stack up.
Phelddagrif
Phelddagrif hands opponents hippos and life, which means the table grows creatures fast — Propaganda converts that generosity into a reliable tax that discourages anyone from turning those gifts sideways.
Firkraag, Cunning Instigator
Firkraag, Cunning Instigator wants other players fighting each other, and Propaganda raises the cost of attacking you specifically, keeping Firkraag's goad plan pointed outward instead of back at its own controller.
Jon Irenicus, Shattered One
Jon Irenicus, Shattered One donates creatures to opponents while drawing value, so the last thing you want is those donated bodies swinging back — Propaganda acts as the soft wall that makes that line too expensive to bother with.
Zedruu the Greathearted
Zedruu the Greathearted gives away permanents for incremental advantage and needs time to convert that engine into a win, making Propaganda a natural fit to discourage opponents from simply attacking the Zedruu player out while they accumulate resources.
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 |
Commander is where Propaganda earns its reputation — three opponents means three attack vectors, and a single copy taxes all of them simultaneously, which is a rate no other format can replicate. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but rarely played; the formats are too fast and spell-based for a three-mana enchantment that does nothing against combo. Oathbreaker is a reasonable home for the same reason Commander is, since the multiplayer dynamic still makes the tax meaningful. Propaganda is banned in neither Pauper nor Pioneer because it simply isn't legal there, not because it would be too weak — its ceiling is entirely a function of how many opponents are pointing creatures at you.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$3.63 cheap tier
At $3.63, Propaganda sits in the sweet spot where it's cheap enough to slot into nearly any blue Commander deck without budget deliberation. It has seen multiple reprints, which keeps the price accessible and means it's unlikely to spike sharply — what you see is roughly what you'll pay.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor
- Phelddagrif
- Firkraag, Cunning Instigator
- Jon Irenicus, Shattered One
- Zedruu the Greathearted
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.