Run Behind
Instant
This spell costs 
less to cast if it targets an attacking creature.
Target creature's owner puts it on their choice of the top or bottom of their library.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Secrets of Strixhaven
- Price
- $0.04
- EDHREC rank
- #26108
Run Behind gives one of your creatures menace until end of turn for a single red mana — cheap evasion stapled to an instant, nothing more. It's a combat trick with a narrow use case, not a card that changes games.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Run Behind is a legal one-of in every major format, but it rarely earns a slot in any of them. In Commander, temporary menace on a single attacker is too low-impact to justify a card — you'd rather run a permanent evasion piece or an equipment. In aggressive Constructed formats like Pioneer or Modern, Run Behind is outclassed by combat tricks that also pump power, deal damage, or generate card advantage. Pauper is the closest thing to a natural home, where cheap instants that enable evasion can matter at the margins, but even there it faces stiff competition for the slot.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.04 bulk tier
At $0.04, Run Behind is deep bulk — you'll find copies in every common bin at any game store. Don't expect that floor to move; demand simply isn't there to push a narrow combat trick off the bottom of the market.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.