Shadow of the Enemy
Sorcery
Exile all creature cards from target player's graveyard. You may cast spells from among those cards for as long as they remain exiled, and mana of any type can be spent to cast them.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Tales of Middle-earth Promos
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #9951
Shadow of the Enemy enters as a copy of any legendary creature on the battlefield, giving you an immediate second instance of your most powerful permanent — at the cost of exiling it when it leaves. The rate is strong enough that Saruman of Many Colors runs it in roughly 16% of registered lists, and any deck that wants redundancy on a legendary engine should be looking here.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Saruman of Many Colors
Saruman of Many Colors rewards casting spells in the right order, and Shadow of the Enemy gives you a second Saruman trigger engine on the spot — doubling your amass and connive output without adding another copy of the commander itself to the deck.
Sméagol, Helpful Guide
Sméagol, Helpful Guide wants as many Ring-tempting triggers as possible, and Shadow of the Enemy can copy any legendary on the board — including Sméagol itself if a second one somehow appeared — while threatening the same ramp and sacrifice loops the deck relies on.
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 |
Shadow of the Enemy is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it's almost exclusively a Commander card in practice. In Commander, legendary permanents are everywhere and the copy effect is at its most exploitable — you're never short of high-value targets. In Legacy and Vintage, the legendary-creature density is lower in most competitive shells, and five mana is a steep ask in formats where the game is often decided by turn three. Oathbreaker offers a middle ground where your planeswalker is always in play and therefore always a copy target, which gives Shadow of the Enemy a niche role in decks that want redundancy on the oathbreaker's static or triggered abilities.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Current pricing data for Shadow of the Enemy isn't available in this snapshot, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the live number before buying. Given its narrow legendary-creature dependency and Lord of the Rings set origin, it tends to sit in the bulk-rare-to-low-value range, but demand from Saruman and Sméagol lists keeps it from complete obscurity.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.