Sleep
Sorcery
Tap all creatures target player controls. Those creatures don't untap during that player's next untap step.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $0.26
- EDHREC rank
- #5933
Sleep taps your opponents' entire boards and keeps them tapped through their next untap step — four mana for a full turn of uncontested attacks or a completely open defense. Hylda of the Icy Crown turns every one of those tapped creatures into a trigger, making Sleep one of the most efficient ways to flood the board with tokens and effects in a single cast.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Hylda of the Icy Crown
Sleep is a staple in Hylda of the Icy Crown decks because tapping each creature an opponent controls triggers Hylda separately — a board of five creatures means five Hylda activations off a single spell, generating a cascade of tokens, counters, or card draw in one shot.
Ramses, Assassin Lord
Ramses, Assassin Lord wins the game outright if an opponent loses a creature during a turn they've been dealt combat damage, and Sleep clears the path by locking down blockers so your assassins connect cleanly — the tap-until-end-of-turn clause is exactly the window Ramses needs.
Talrand, Sky Summoner
Sleep is an instant away from being a spell, but for Talrand, Sky Summoner every sorcery still makes a 2/2 Drake — the combination of a free attacker and a board-wide tap effect means the turn you cast Sleep is frequently the turn you close the game.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Sleep is legal across Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it only seriously shows up in Commander. In 60-card formats, four mana at sorcery speed for an effect that doesn't advance your board or close the game is too slow — Modern and Pioneer have cheaper, more proactive tools. Commander is where Sleep earns its slot: multiplayer tables mean you're tapping fifteen or twenty creatures at once, and the two-turn lockout can neutralize the most dangerous board state at the table long enough to kill someone.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.26 bulk tier
At $0.26, Sleep is deep bulk — easy to pick up in any trade binder or common box. That price is unlikely to move meaningfully given its narrow competitive footprint, but for Commander it's one of the best cents-per-impact cards available for tap-synergy strategies.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.