Scapegoat
Instant
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Return any number of target creatures you control to their owner's hand.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Stronghold
- Price
- $0.51
- EDHREC rank
- #14701
Scapegoat bounces any number of your creatures back to hand for a single white mana — a zero-setup mass-protection spell that doubles as a combo reset button. King of the Oathbreakers and Venerated Rotpriest shells run it because a one-mana instant that both saves your board and retriggers enter-the-battlefield effects is rarely just a trick.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
King of the Oathbreakers
King of the Oathbreakers generates a Rogue token every time a Rogue enters the battlefield under your control, so Scapegoat turns a full board into a re-entry parade for one mana — bounce five Rogues, replay them, and King triggers five more times.
God-Eternal Oketra
God-Eternal Oketra doubles up on every creature cast, so Scapegoat functions as a hand-refill and a token-multiplication engine: bounce your creatures, recast them, and each one produces a fresh 4/4 Zombie.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Scapegoat earns its keep — the format's creature-heavy boards and abundance of enter-the-battlefield value engines make a one-mana mass-bounce spell disproportionately powerful. In Legacy and Vintage, Scapegoat is legal but sees virtually no play; those formats move too fast for a symmetrically weak combat trick with no immediate board impact. Oathbreaker mirrors Commander's dynamic closely enough that the same ETB shells want it for the same reasons.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.51 bulk tier
At $0.51, Scapegoat is firmly bulk — easy to pick up as a throw-in or dollar-bin find. Given its narrow appeal outside specific ETB-loop commanders, that price is stable rather than a sleeper; don't expect movement unless a new Rogue or token commander pushes the archetype into the mainstream.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.