Unquestioned Authority
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
When this Aura enters, draw a card.
Enchanted creature has protection from creatures.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Commander 2018
- Price
- $1.68
- EDHREC rank
- #2314
Unquestioned Authority gives a creature protection from creatures and a free card on entry — evasion plus card advantage stapled to a single three-mana enchantment. Three Dog, Galaxy News DJ in particular turns it into a two-for-one every time it cycles through an aura chain, making the card pull well above its price point.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Three Dog, Galaxy News DJ
Three Dog, Galaxy News DJ runs Unquestioned Authority in over 75% of decks because the enter-the-battlefield draw trigger slots directly into his broadcast engine, generating card advantage each time an aura enters on a creature he controls.
Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor
Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor tutors for Auras that protect his creatures, and Unquestioned Authority delivers both protection from creatures and a cantrip, making it one of the most efficient single picks the deck can assemble.
Killian, Ink Duelist
Killian, Ink Duelist cuts the cost of Auras by two generic mana, so Unquestioned Authority effectively becomes a one-mana protection spell that replaces itself — a ratio Killian decks almost can't afford to skip.
Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice
Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice triggers off any Aura entering on a creature you control, and Unquestioned Authority's ETB draw means Light-Paws chains into the next tutor immediately, sustaining the snowball on the same turn.
Uril, the Miststalker
Uril, the Miststalker already dodges targeted spells, but Unquestioned Authority layers on protection from creatures so blockers can't stop the combat damage that fuels his one-shot kill gameplan.
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 |
Unquestioned Authority is a Commander card through and through — the combination of a cantrip and evasion on a single Aura is most valuable in a 100-card singleton format where consistency is hard to come by. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but never played; three mana for a non-permanent effect that doesn't interact with the stack is far too slow for those formats. Oathbreaker can support it in the same Aura-centric shells that Commander does, though the smaller deck size makes it less necessary. Modern, Pioneer, Standard, and Pauper are all non-starters — between illegality and the pace of those formats, Unquestioned Authority simply doesn't exist there.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.68 cheap tier
At $1.68, Unquestioned Authority sits firmly in the cheap tier — an easy auto-include for any Aura-based Commander deck that wants evasion without spending real budget. Demand is stable given how many popular commanders want it, so the price is unlikely to erode further.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Three Dog, Galaxy News DJ
- Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor
- Killian, Ink Duelist
- Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice
- Uril, the Miststalker
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.