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Rancor

Enchantment — Aura

Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +2/+0 and has trample.
When this Aura is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, return it to its owner's hand.

CMC
1
Mana cost
{G}
Color identity
G
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Magic 2013
Price
$0.87
EDHREC rank
#770
Buy on TCGplayer
Rancor card art
Rancor turns any creature into a persistent threat — +2/+0 and trample for one mana, and it comes back to your hand when the creature dies. The return clause is what separates it from every other one-mana pump spell; Phyrexian Altar decks and Uril, the Miststalker builds run it because it never actually leaves the game.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Uril, the Miststalker

Uril, the Miststalker

79.3% of decks · synergy 0.75

Uril, the Miststalker gets +2/+2 for each aura attached to it, so Rancor is effectively a +4/+2 trample enabler for one mana — and if a board wipe kills Uril, Rancor returns to hand ready to suit up the next threat.

02
Dogmeat, Ever Loyal

Dogmeat, Ever Loyal

74.3% of decks · synergy 0.70

Dogmeat, Ever Loyal cares about suiting up creatures with junk counters and auras, and Rancor's bounce-back clause means you're never down a card when your scrapper hits the graveyard.

03
Kosei, Penitent Warlord

Kosei, Penitent Warlord

80.0% of decks · synergy 0.70

Kosei, Penitent Warlord needs three different keyword abilities to trigger its combat damage cascade, and Rancor slots in as the trample piece for one mana while cycling back whenever Kosei dies.

04
Baba Lysaga, Night Witch

Baba Lysaga, Night Witch

73.4% of decks · synergy 0.69

Baba Lysaga, Night Witch cares about having permanents of multiple types in play, and Rancor's guaranteed return means you're consistently maintaining your enchantment count even through removal.

05
Preston Garvey, Minuteman

Preston Garvey, Minuteman

66.9% of decks · synergy 0.63

Preston Garvey, Minuteman generates creature tokens and wants to swing wide with trample to push damage through; Rancor keeps bouncing back to grant that keyword again and again at minimal cost.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper legal
oathbreaker legal

Rancor is a Pauper staple and one of the most efficient aggressive auras ever printed at common — the format's aggressive green decks have leaned on it for years precisely because card disadvantage is punishing at that power level, and Rancor dodges the problem entirely. In Legacy and Vintage it sees fringe play in Enchantress and Bogles-style strategies where redundant, self-replacing auras matter. Commander is where Rancor has its broadest reach: any voltron or creature-combat deck that wants trample and isn't paying two or three mana for it will happily slot it in, and the bounce clause makes it resilient against the format's constant board wipes. It's not legal in Pioneer or Standard, but that gap in the resume doesn't hurt its relevance anywhere it can show up.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.87 bulk tier

At $0.87, Rancor sits at the top of bulk pricing — cheap enough to throw into any deck without deliberation, but its long print history keeps the ceiling low. It holds that floor confidently given how many formats want it; this is a card you pick up without overthinking.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.