Sphere of Resistance
Artifact
Spells cost 
more to cast.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- special
- Set
- Kaladesh Inventions
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #8120
Sphere of Resistance taxes every spell your opponents cast by one mana — and in Commander, where three or four opponents are all trying to develop their boards, that friction compounds fast. The cost is that it taxes you too, which is why it belongs in decks built around that asymmetry, not jammed into goodstuff piles; Grand Arbiter Augustin IV is the canonical home because his cost-reduction effect neutralizes the downside entirely.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV reduces your costs while Sphere of Resistance raises everyone else's, creating a two-mana gap that turns normal gameplay into a crawl for opponents while you operate freely.
Oswald Fiddlebender
Oswald Fiddlebender can sacrifice Sphere of Resistance on command to fetch a higher-CMC artifact, meaning the tax piece does its political damage early and then converts into the next piece of your combo chain the moment you no longer need it.
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 |
In Commander, Sphere of Resistance is a staple in stax and control builds — the multiplayer math is brutal because every opponent pays the tax on every spell, while you build your deck to offset or ignore it. In Legacy, it sees play in prison strategies designed to lock opponents out of resolving spells at all, where it stacks with Trinisphere and Thorn of Amethyst. Vintage is the same story: it's a piece of the Workshop prison shell, making fast mana and efficient spells dramatically more expensive. Outside those sanctioned formats it's not legal, but in Oathbreaker it functions identically to Commander — powerful in the right shell, a liability in the wrong one.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data isn't available in the current feed for Sphere of Resistance, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the live number before buying. Historically it has carried a meaningful price tag as a Reserved List card, so confirm stock and condition from a reputable seller.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.