Austere Command is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
Choose two — • Destroy all artifacts. • Destroy all enchantments. • Destroy all creatures with mana value 3 or less. • Destroy all creatures with mana value 4 or greater.
Complete guide
Austere Command is a powerhouse of versatility in white, offering a modular way to reset the board to your advantage. Unlike standard board wipes, this sorcery allows you to surgically remove specific threats while potentially leaving your own board intact. Understanding the sequencing of its modes is the key to mastering this classic Commander staple.
Choosing Your Path
When you cast Austere Command, you must choose exactly two of the four available modes. These choices are made as you cast the spell and cannot be changed later. Because it targets categories of permanents rather than specific objects, it bypasses keywords like Ward or Hexproof, making it an excellent answer to protected threats.
The Importance of Sequencing
The chosen modes resolve in the order they are printed on the card. This sequence matters for triggers and continuous effects. If a mode destroys an enchantment that was exiling a creature, that creature returns to the battlefield immediately. If the second chosen mode is 'Destroy all creatures,' that newly returned creature will be destroyed as well.
Strategic Deployment
This card shines when you have an asymmetrical board state. If you are playing a deck full of small utility creatures, you can choose to destroy artifacts and large creatures, leaving your army untouched. Unlike cards that exile, Austere Command sends items to the graveyard, which can be relevant for your own recursion strategies.
Common Pitfalls
A common mistake involves regeneration and indestructible effects. If a creature fits the criteria for both chosen modes (such as an artifact creature with mana value 4 or greater when the first and fourth modes are picked), it would be destroyed twice. To survive, it would need two separate regeneration shields or a permanent Indestructible effect.
Interaction examples
FarewellWhile both cards offer multiple choices, Farewell exiles permanents simultaneously. With Austere Command, permanents are destroyed sequentially. If you choose to destroy enchantments and then large creatures, any creature returned to the battlefield by a destroyed Oblivion Ring effect will be present when the spell checks for large creatures to destroy.
Promise of LoyaltyIf you have used Promise of Loyalty to keep a specific threat on the board with a vow counter, Austere Command can be used later to clean up that specific creature. By choosing the mode that matches the creature's mana value, you can remove the 'vowed' creature that Promise of Loyalty was forced to leave behind.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Austere Command
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
If a card is exiled "until" another permanent leaves the battlefield, the exiled card returns to the battlefield immediately after that permanent leaves the battlefield during Austere Command's resolution, and it may be destroyed by a later mode.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
Each of the chosen modes happens sequentially. If a permanent has an ability that triggers whenever it or another permanent is destroyed, it will see permanents destroyed at the same time as it or before it, but not permanents destroyed by later modes.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
If the first and last modes are chosen, an artifact creature with mana value 4 or greater will have to be regenerated twice to survive. This is because the modes happen sequentially, and the regeneration "shield" is used up by the first one. The same is true with any other combination of modes that covers one permanent twice.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Popular combos
Real combos played by the community, sorted by popularity.
Nine Lives + Harmless Offering + Austere Command
- 1Cast Harmless Offering by paying
, giving Nine Lives to an opponent. - 2Cast Austere Command by paying
, destroying all enchantments. - 3Nine Lives leaves the battlefield, causing its controller to lose the game.
Zedruu the Greathearted + Nine Lives + Austere Command
- 1Activate Zedruu by paying
, giving target opponent control of Nine Lives. - 2Cast Austere Command by paying , destroying all enchantments.
- 3Nine Lives leaves the battlefield, causing its controller to lose the game.
Nine Lives + Donate + Austere Command
- 1Cast Donate by paying , giving Nine Lives to an opponent.
- 2Cast Austere Command by paying , destroying all enchantments.
- 3Nine Lives leaves the battlefield, causing its controller to lose the game.
Biorhythm + Austere Command
- 1Cast Austere Command by paying its mana cost, destroying all creatures.
- 2Cast Biorhythm by paying its mana cost, causing each player's life total to become equal to the number of creatures they control.
- 3Each player that controls no creatures loses the game due to having 0 life.
Nine Lives + Fractured Identity + Angel's Grace + Austere Command
- 1Cast Angel's Grace by paying .
- 2Cast Fractured Identity by paying
, exiling Nine Lives and causing each opponent to create a token copy of it. - 3Nine Lives leaves the battlefield, however you cannot lose the game due to Angel's Grace.
- 4Cast Austere Command by paying its mana cost, destroying all enchantments.
- 5When each opponent's Nine Lives leaves the battlefield, they each trigger, causing each opponent to lose the game.
Nine Lives + Fractured Identity + Austere Command + Platinum Angel
- 1Cast Fractured Identity by paying , exiling Nine Lives and causing each opponent to create a token copy of it.
- 2Nine Lives leaves the battlefield, however you cannot lose the game due to Platinum Angel.
- 3Cast Austere Command by paying , destroying all enchantments.
- 4Each opponent's Nine Lives leaves the battlefield, causing them to lose the game.
Nine Lives + Fractured Identity + Cloudsteel Kirin + Austere Command
- 1Cast Fractured Identity by paying , exiling Nine Lives and causing each opponent to create a token copy of it.
- 2Nine Lives leaves the battlefield, however you cannot lose the game due to Cloudsteel Kirin.
- 3Cast Austere Command by paying its mana cost, destroying all enchantments.
- 4When each opponent's Nine Lives leaves the battlefield, they each trigger, causing each opponent to lose the game.
Nine Lives + Fractured Identity + Gideon of the Trials + Austere Command
- 1Cast Fractured Identity by paying , exiling Nine Lives and causing each opponent to create a token copy of it.
- 2Nine Lives leaves the battlefield, however you cannot lose the game due to Gideon of the Trials.
- 3Cast Austere Command by paying its mana cost, destroying all enchantments.
- 4When each opponent's Nine Lives leaves the battlefield, they each trigger, causing each opponent to lose the game.
Legal formats
Commentaires
- Sois le premier à commenter cette carte.
Read next
Meta decks with Austere Command
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.