Tricks of the Trade
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +2/+0 and can't be blocked.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Welcome Deck 2017
- Price
- $0.14
- EDHREC rank
- #17989
Tricks of the Trade makes a creature unblockable and pumps it by +2/+0 for three mana — a reasonable rate if you need guaranteed damage through. The catch is that it's an Aura, which means it's card disadvantage the moment the creature dies, and three mana at sorcery speed is a real cost in any competitive context.
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 |
Tricks of the Trade is legal in Commander, Pauper, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it sees meaningful play only in Pauper, where unblockable enablers are scarce and the card pool is shallow enough that a three-mana Aura can pull weight in tempo or voltron builds. In Commander, it's outclassed — you're running 99 cards and have access to cheaper, more resilient unblockable effects that don't fold to a single removal spell. Everywhere else, the format speed makes Tricks of the Trade a non-starter.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.14 bulk tier
At $0.14, Tricks of the Trade is deep bulk — you're not paying for power, you're paying for cardboard. There's no meaningful price floor to speak of, and nothing in its demand profile suggests that changes.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.