Serra's Embrace
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +2/+2 and has flying and vigilance. (Attacking doesn't cause it to tap.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Salvat 2011
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #18113
Serra's Embrace turns any creature into a flying, vigilant threat that swings and holds back simultaneously — the effect is real, the problem is the three-mana enchantment is stapled to a single creature that dies to any removal spell. Auras live and die with their host, and Serra's Embrace doesn't offer enough power or resilience to justify that risk in most powered lists.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Serra's Embrace is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it only sees meaningful play in Commander, and even there only in dedicated Aura strategies. In Legacy and Modern the card is simply outclassed — three mana for a non-cantripping Aura is uncompetitive when those formats demand immediate board impact and resilience, and Serra's Embrace offers neither. Commander is where it has a home, specifically in white Voltron or Aura-matters decks where commanders like Sram, Senior Edificer or Bruna, Light of Alabaster turn the inherent card-disadvantage of Auras into an asset. In Oathbreaker it follows the same logic as Commander — playable in the right shell, irrelevant outside it.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data isn't available for Serra's Embrace in the current index, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for current copies. Historically it's been a bulk-rare-level card, and given its narrow application, there's no reason to expect a premium — if you need it for an Aura deck, it should be an easy pickup.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.