Stern Dismissal
Instant
Return target creature or enchantment an opponent controls to its owner's hand.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Theros Beyond Death
- Price
- $0.15
- EDHREC rank
- #11289
Stern Dismissal bounces any non-land permanent back to its owner's hand for a single blue mana — instant speed, no restrictions on type, no targeting hoops. It's a tempo piece, not a removal spell, but at one mana that trade is almost always worth taking.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Stern Dismissal competes in the hardest slot in blue: one-mana interaction. It loses to Brainstorm for card advantage and to Pongify for permanent answers, but bouncing a commander, a planeswalker, or a stax piece for U at instant speed is a real play. In Pauper, where efficient interaction is scarce and tempo matters enormously, Stern Dismissal earns consistent consideration. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer the bar is simply too high — formats with Fatal Push, Spell Pierce, and Counterspell don't have room for a bounce spell that doesn't generate card advantage or end the game.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.15 bulk tier
At $0.15, Stern Dismissal is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard and shipping, not the card. That price is stable; there's no spike catalyst for a narrow one-mana bounce effect with several functional equivalents already in print.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.