Commandeer 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
You may exile two blue cards from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost. Gain control of target noncreature spell. You may choose new targets for it. (If that spell is an artifact, enchantment, or planeswalker, the permanent enters under your control.)
Complete guide
Commandeer is a powerful blue instant that allows you to seize control of your opponent's spells, turning their best resources into your own. Whether you pay its full mana cost or use its alternative cost by exiling blue cards, it provides a dramatic swing in momentum. By changing the controller of a spell, you ensure that artifacts, enchantments, and planeswalkers enter the battlefield under your command.
How Commandeer Works
Commandeer targets a noncreature spell currently on the stack. Unlike a counterspell, which simply stops a spell from happening, Commandeer changes the spell's controller to you. If the spell is an instant or sorcery, you make all decisions for it and choose new targets. If the spell is a permanent, like an artifact or planeswalker, it will enter the battlefield under your control rather than your opponent's. You can also cast this for 'free' by exiling two other blue cards from your hand.
Resolution Step-by-Step
First, Commandeer resolves and you become the controller of the target spell. Second, you may choose new targets for that spell; because you are now the controller, any text referring to 'you' or 'an opponent' updates to reflect your perspective. For example, if a spell says 'target creature you control,' you must now target a creature you control. If you cannot choose a legal target for the new controller, the target must remain the same (which might cause the spell to fail if that target is now illegal).
Common Mistakes
A frequent error is assuming you get to keep instant or sorcery cards in your hand after they resolve. Even though you controlled the spell, the physical card still goes to its owner's graveyard once it finishes resolving. Additionally, you cannot use Commandeer to steal copies of spells created by abilities like Storm or Replicate, as those copies are created under the control of the player who cast the original spell.
When to Play It
Commandeer is best used against high-impact noncreature spells like powerful planeswalkers or massive draw spells. It is particularly effective when you are tapped out, as the alternative cost allows you to surprise an opponent who thinks the coast is clear. Use it when stealing the spell provides a greater advantage than simply countering it.
Interaction examples
Dig Through TimeIf your opponent casts Dig Through Time, you can cast Commandeer targeting it. When Commandeer resolves, you become the controller of Dig Through Time. Instead of your opponent looking at their top seven cards, you look at the top seven cards of your library and put two into your hand. After the spell resolves, the Dig Through Time card is placed in your opponent's graveyard.
Sublime EpiphanySuppose an opponent casts Sublime Epiphany choosing to return a permanent and draw a card. You cast Commandeer. Upon resolution, you control the Epiphany. You can now change the target for the 'return target nonland permanent' mode to one of your opponent's permanents, and you will be the 'target player' who draws a card. If they chose the 'create a token' mode, you would need to choose a creature you control for that target.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Commandeer
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
If you Commandeer a spell for which buyback has been paid, the card returns to its owner's hand.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
After Commandeer resolves, you control the targeted spell. Any instance of "you" in that spell's text now refers to you, "an opponent" refers to one of your opponents, and so on. The change of control happens before new targets are chosen, so any targeting restrictions such as "target opponent" or "target creature you control" are now made in reference to you, not the spell's original controller. You may either change those targets to be legal in reference to you, or, if those are the spell's only targets, the spell doesn't resolve for having illegal targets. When the spell resolves, any illegal targets are unaffected by it and you make all decisions the spell's effect calls for.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
You may change any of the targeted spell's targets. If you change a target, you must choose a legal target for the spell. If you can't, you must leave the target the same (even if that target is now illegal).
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
If the targeted spell has a triggered ability that copies it (for example, replicate or storm), the copies will be controlled by the player who cast that spell.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
If you gain control of an instant or sorcery spell with Commandeer, it will still be put into its owner's graveyard when it resolves.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #6· Wizards of the Coast
If you don't have two cards of the right color in your hand, you can't choose to cast the spell using the alternative cost.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #7· Wizards of the Coast
You can't exile a card from your hand to pay for itself. At the time you would pay costs, that card is on the stack, not in your hand.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #8· Wizards of the Coast
You may pay the alternative cost rather than the card's mana cost. Any additional costs are paid as normal.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Commandeer
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.