Unmask
Sorcery
You may exile a black card from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Target player reveals their hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $7.19
- EDHREC rank
- #17857
Unmask rips a card from an opponent's hand at instant speed for zero mana — as long as you can pitch a black card to pay the alternative cost. Free discard is one of the most powerful effects in the game, and Unmask delivers it on turn one if needed.
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 Legacy and Vintage, Unmask earns its slot in black combo and control shells that need to strip countermagic or a key piece before going off — the free cast is the whole point. Commander is where most players will encounter it: it trades one-for-one in a four-player game, which is a structural drag, but black storm, reanimator, and Ad Nauseam-adjacent builds use Unmask to clear a counterspell on the stack or blind an opponent before a critical turn. Outside those two homes, Unmask is not legal in Modern, Pioneer, Standard, or Pauper, so the format window is narrow.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Duress costs one black mana and hits noncreature spells just like Unmask does, making it the obvious substitute when you don't need the free-cast clause. Thoughtseize hits any card for one mana at the cost of two life — it's more flexible but similarly not free, so if your deck specifically wants a zero-mana discard effect on the stack, neither fully replicates what Unmask does.
Price Context
Current price
$7.19 mid tier
At $7.19, Unmask sits in the mid tier — pricey for a narrow effect that only earns its keep in specific combo or storm lists. The price is justified if you're building one of those shells, but it's an easy cut everywhere else.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.