Restrain
Instant
Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt by target attacking creature this turn.
Draw a card.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Invasion
- Price
- $0.17
- EDHREC rank
- #26441
Restrain taps a creature and keeps it tapped until it leaves play — a soft lock that stacks well with untap engines and tap-matters commanders. At one mana it's efficient, but the enchantment dependency means a single removal spell answers both pieces at once.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Restrain finds its home in tap-synergy builds that can exploit a locked-down creature repeatedly across many turns — it punishes a single threat without spending a removal spell. In Pauper, the common-legal pool makes cheap auras more viable, though opponents will find answers. Legacy and Vintage are too fast for a one-mana stax piece that does nothing to spells or the stack; Restrain won't see play in either. It's legally available in Oathbreaker but faces the same speed problem there unless the commander specifically rewards the tap-lock line.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.17 bulk tier
At $0.17, Restrain is deep bulk — pick it up without a second thought if the build calls for it. Price stability is irrelevant at this tier; it's a throw-in card that costs less than shipping.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.