Reality Shift
Instant
Exile target creature. Its controller manifests the top card of their library. (That player puts the top card of their library onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature. If it's a creature card, it can be turned face up any time for its mana cost.)
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Commander 2017
- Price
- $0.30
- EDHREC rank
- #272
Reality Shift exiles a creature and replaces it with a 2/2 manifest — hard removal that dodges indestructible, regeneration, and graveyard recursion for two mana. It's the blue answer to creatures blue isn't supposed to kill, and commanders like Rootha, Mastering the Moment copy it for a two-for-one that clears the board and buries opponents in face-down problems.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Rootha, Mastering the Moment
Rootha, Mastering the Moment copies instants and sorceries from the graveyard, and Reality Shift is a natural loop target — copy it once and you've exiled two threats for the price of one, leaving opponents with a pair of 2/2s they can't reliably flip.
Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer
Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer cares deeply about manifested creatures, and Reality Shift turns an opponent's best threat into face-down fodder that Kadena can steal the tempo from — every manifest token created is a wasted resource for the player who lost their creature.
Zimone, Mystery Unraveler
Zimone, Mystery Unraveler's engine rewards casting spells in volume, and Reality Shift slots in as cheap interaction that keeps the chain moving while permanently removing whatever was threatening the board.
Alela, Cunning Conqueror
Alela, Cunning Conqueror plays an instants-heavy control shell that wants to hold up mana on opponents' turns, and Reality Shift fits cleanly — two mana at instant speed to exile a threat, leaving open mana for the flash tokens Alela can generate off the same interaction.
Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor
Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor leads a Faerie tribal list that prizes efficient instant-speed plays, and Reality Shift covers the one gap Faeries have: removing a creature cleanly without touching the stack.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Reality Shift earns its reputation — two mana to exile a creature at instant speed is exactly what blue control decks need, and the manifest rider is irrelevant enough that it rarely bails out the opponent. In Legacy and Vintage, it's legal but invisible; Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile do the same job in white for the same cost, and blue has no shortage of bounce and counterspells that outperform targeted exile at those power levels. Modern and Pioneer tell a similar story — Reality Shift is playable in theory but competes with a removal suite that's faster, cleaner, or attached to a better body. The card's real home is 100-card singleton, where exile is a premium, indestructible creatures are everywhere, and you'll never have four copies of anything better.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.30 bulk tier
At $0.30, Reality Shift is bulk in price only — it's a staple-level effect at a throwaway cost, and the low price reflects supply from multiple printings rather than any lack of demand. Stock up freely; there's no reason to hesitate at this price point.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.