Swerve
Instant
Change the target of target spell with a single target.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- RU
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Shards of Alara
- Price
- $0.40
- EDHREC rank
- #15105
Swerve redirects any single-target instant or sorcery to a new target — same effect, different victim — for two mana, turning an opponent's removal or combo piece into a political weapon or a kill shot. Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot triggers off every instant and sorcery cast, so Swerve does double duty: it protects the board and it fuels Lilah's damage engine.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot
Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot casts instants and sorceries as both fuel and function, and Swerve sits at the intersection of both — it counts as a spell for Lilah's trigger while simultaneously redirecting an opponent's removal away from your key threats or back into their own face.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Swerve earns its slot as a reactive piece that punishes the table's removal spells and targeted combos alike — redirecting a Demonic Tutor that was going to kill your win condition, or turning an Aura Shards activation into friendly fire, is the kind of swing that wins games. In Legacy and Vintage, the competition is steeper: Redirect, Misdirection, and Ricochet Trap exist, and those formats move fast enough that two mana at instant speed is often too slow for pure control play. Swerve is most at home in Commander, where multiplayer threat density makes redirection reliably live, and the political angle of "I'll save you from that removal" adds a layer that faster formats simply don't have.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.40 bulk tier
At $0.40, Swerve is pure bulk — no meaningful barrier to picking up copies, and its niche role in Commander keeps demand steady without any upward pressure. It's the kind of card you grab as a one-of and never think about the price again.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.