Spirit Shackle
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Whenever enchanted creature becomes tapped, put a -0/-2 counter on it.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Renaissance
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #28844
Spirit Shackle taps a creature and keeps it tapped as long as the enchantment stays attached — soft lock without destroying, which matters against indestructible and regenerating threats. The cost is that it's an Aura, so it dies to the enchanted creature dying and does nothing against noncreature threats.
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 |
In Commander, Spirit Shackle is too slow and too fragile to compete with actual removal — a three-mana Aura that can be stranded in hand and doesn't answer the threat permanently is a liability at a table of four. Pauper is its best home, where the card pool is shallow enough that persistent tap effects have real value and Auras see more play in aggressive or tempo strategies. Legacy and Vintage are non-starters; Spirit Shackle doesn't come close to the power threshold of either format. Oathbreaker sits closer to casual Commander than competitive, so the ceiling there is the same as the Commander read — fine in the lowest-power pods, outclassed almost everywhere else.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data isn't available for Spirit Shackle at the moment, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for current listings. Given its narrow application and bulk-rare status in most collections, it's almost certainly a sub-$1 pickup if you need it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.