Punish Ignorance
Instant
Counter target spell. Its controller loses 3 life and you gain 3 life.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BUW
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Shards of Alara
- Price
- $0.25
- EDHREC rank
- #23317
Punish Ignorance counters a spell, drains the caster for 3, and puts 3 life in your pocket — that's a six-point life swing stapled to a hard counter. Four mana is the steep part, but in a format full of haymakers worth stopping, the payment is often worth it.
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 Punish Ignorance earns its slot — four-mana counterspells are acceptable when the format runs Cyclonic Rift, Craterhoof Behemoth, and other game-ending threats worth paying full price to stop, and the life swing pulls double duty in a multiplayer life-total race. In Legacy and Vintage, it doesn't make the cut; three-mana hard counters like Force of Will and Counterspell exist, and four mana at instant speed is simply too slow for those formats. Oathbreaker mirrors the Commander argument at a tighter, faster scale, where the drain can actually close out a game.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.25 bulk tier
At $0.25, Punish Ignorance is pure bulk — easy to pick up as a throw-in or trade fodder. Bulk counterspells with niche upside rarely spike, so expect the price to stay flat.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.