Unnerving Grasp
Sorcery
Return up to one target nonland permanent to its owner's hand. Manifest dread. (Look at the top two cards of your library. Put one onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature and the other into your graveyard. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it's a creature card.)
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Duskmourn: House of Horror
- Price
- $0.05
- EDHREC rank
- #15537
Unnerving Grasp bounces a creature and replaces itself with a card draw, which is a clean rate for any deck that wants tempo. Kitsa, Otterball Elite and Vannifar, Evolved Enigma both exploit the cantrip to keep combo lines moving, making this a role-player rather than a sideboard curiosity.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Vannifar, Evolved Enigma
Vannifar, Evolved Enigma cares about casting spells with different mana values to morph creatures, and Unnerving Grasp fills a cheap cantripping bounce slot that keeps the engine fed while resetting a blocker or returning a creature to recast for another trigger.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Unnerving Grasp is a budget cantrip in decks that want repeatable bounce — think blink or morph shells where replaying a creature matters as much as the tempo. Competitive non-rotating formats like Legacy and Modern have no shortage of stronger options at this cost, so it won't see a slot there. Pioneer and Standard are where it has the most plausible case, occupying a niche in tempo-oriented blue strategies that need cheap interaction that doesn't strand cards in hand.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Kitsa, Otterball EliteAshnod's AltarIntruder AlarmUnnerving Grasp
Infinite self-mill; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite death triggers; Near-infinite magecraft triggers; Near-infinite sacrifice triggers; Near-infinite untap of all creatures
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.05 bulk tier
At $0.05, Unnerving Grasp is pure bulk — buy a dozen without thinking about it. Don't expect the price to move; cantripping bounce at this power level has a ceiling, and supply from a Standard-legal set keeps it pinned there.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Kitsa, Otterball Elite
- Vannifar, Evolved Enigma
- Ashnod's Altar
- Intruder Alarm
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.