Shield Mate
Creature — Human Soldier
Sacrifice this creature: Target creature gets +0/+4 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Exodus
- Price
- $0.13
- EDHREC rank
- #23746
Shield Mate gives a creature +0/+4 permanently for just one white mana — the catch is that your opponent gets to draw a card. That free card draw almost always costs more than a +0/+4 is worth, making Shield Mate a bulk rare for good reason.
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 |
Shield Mate is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but sees essentially no play in any of them. In Commander, the effect is too narrow — a single creature getting +0/+4 doesn't move the needle in a 100-card, 4-player format, and handing an opponent a free card draw is a steep price. Legacy and Vintage have far more efficient defensive options and would never spend a slot here. Pauper is the one format where cheap white tricks occasionally find a home, but Shield Mate's sorcery-speed limitation and opponent card draw make it uncompetitive even there.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.13 bulk tier
At $0.13, Shield Mate is deep bulk — the price reflects what the market thinks of its playability, which is essentially nothing. There's no pressure driving demand, and that's unlikely to change absent a niche combo application that doesn't currently exist.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.