Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Utility, Politics, and Power in EDH Multiplayer
When you fold Curse of Unbinding into a blue-heavy EDH / Commander table, you’re not just playing for card advantage—you’re negotiating the social contract of the game itself 🧙♂️. This rare Aura Curse from Midnight Hunt Commander is a high-cost, high-payoff tool that leans into the messy, delightful politics of multiplayer formats. It doesn’t simply “draw a card” or “murder a board”; it reshapes who sits on the throne of authority by gifting you a creature card from an unlucky neighbor’s library. It’s the kind of spell that makes you smile and then pretend you didn’t enjoy watching someone else squirm as a mana curve turns on a dime.🔥
Card snapshot: Curse of Unbinding costs {6}{U} (a seven-mana investment in a blue aura) and is an Enchantment — Aura Curse. Its text is brutally elegant: “Enchant player. At the beginning of enchanted player's upkeep, that player reveals cards from the top of their library until they reveal a creature card. Put that card onto the battlefield under your control. That player puts the rest of the revealed cards into their graveyard.” In other words, you don’t steal a creature from their battlefield; you steal one already waiting in their deck. It’s legal in Commander and Vintage, and while it’s a slow burn to cast in a fast metagame, the payoff can be dramatic. The card’s set, Midnight Hunt Commander (MIC), is a blue-focused, commander-format curiosity that also nods to the kind of thrills you get from political Magic. The rarity is rare, and it’s a non-foil print from a set designed to celebrate social gameplay as much as power. It’s a rare gem that rewards careful targeting and long-game planning, not flashy fast wins.💎
In multiplayer play, Curse of Unbinding becomes a currency for influence. You select the target—usually a player with a robust deck or a runway to ramping into big threats—and you commit to watching their top deck unfold. The aura’s trigger sits on future turns, so the moment it lands, you’re no longer chasing pure card advantage; you’re edging into the realm of “policy control.” The enchanted player reveals until they find a creature, and that creature is yours to deploy. The rest go to the graveyard, thinning their options and reshaping draw chances for everyone else. That dynamic is gold in a room where alliances shift faster than a counterspell resolves. ⚔️
How it plays out in practice
- Target selection matters. In EDH, you want to enchant someone whose deck has a creature with real impact and a high payoff, or a player whose engine is dangerous enough to warrant a counterdrive. Casting Curse of Unbinding on a player who’s been quietly assembling a late-game board can flip the table before late-game mana even matters.
- Timing is everything. Since the effect triggers at the beginning of the enchanted player’s upkeep, you’re betting on a predictable cadence. If your table runs stalls and politics move slowly, you may need to bide your time until the magic moment—when the creature roll-down could tilt the game state in your favor. 🧭
- The creature that arrives is your leverage. The moment a creature enters under your control, it can swing combat, block a key attacker, or enable a combo piece that was hidden in someone else’s library. It’s not just a “free body”; it’s a strategic asset whose timing matters as much as its stats.
- Politics and diplomacy. Curse invites you to negotiate. A well-timed creature gain can sweeten deals, create a temporary ceasefire, or force a rival to rethink an attack on you—especially if that creature threatens another player’s game-ending plan. The social layer is, in many ways, the true engine here. 🪄
- Vulnerabilities to watch. It costs a lot to cast, and the aura is a fairly easy removal target for opponents who see you riding a tall wave. Plan ramp into blue spells, or protect the aura with other control effects. If your target slides into a board state and you fall behind, Curse’s tempo can become a liability rather than a boon.
Thoughtful players pair Curse of Unbinding with ways to smooth over its weaknesses. For instance, protect the aura with countermagic or bounce effects while you set up a longer game plan. You’ll want to consider your pod’s composition: in a table full of immediate threats, the slow-but-soulful extraction of a creature can feel punishing—but that punitive edge is what makes urban multiplayer politics so delicious. 🍽️
Design, art, and value considerations
On a design level, Curse of Unbinding embodies blue’s love for manipulation and control with a twist: you’re not just drawing a card or stealing a permanent; you’re bending the game’s very decision engine—the library. The art, by Sebastian Giacobino, carries a calm, polished vibe that belies the chaos inherent in watching an opponent’s deck spill its secrets across the battlefield. The Midnight Hunt Commander frame anchors it in a lore-friendly space where enchantments and trickery meet the social fabric of a Commander game. The card’s EDH Rec presence is modest but real; with an EDHREC rank around the mid-teens thousands, it’s the kind of niche pick that signals a creative, memetic approach to multiplayer strategy. 🧙♂️🎨
From a value perspective, Curse of Unbinding sits around a low-dollar range in real markets, with the price reflecting both its rarity and its niche use in specific blue-heavy, high-variance metas. It’s the kind of card you pick up for the “what if” moment—the moment when you can better understand the social physics of your play group and bend the table to your will, at least for a few turns. If you love the idea of turning a neighbor’s deck into your own personal resource, this is the kind of spell you’ll adore flipping over in the late game. 🔥
While you’re contemplating your next big EDH multiplayer game, you might also want to protect your everyday carry and accessories with a sturdy, MagSafe-compatible case. The shop offers a card holder phone case with MagSafe options in glossy or matte finishes—a practical nod to the ritual of always having a plan, even when fate deals you an unusual card. It’s a small luxury that keeps you prepared for both tabletop sessions and spontaneous card chats. Details below 👌
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Curse of Unbinding
Enchant player
At the beginning of enchanted player's upkeep, that player reveals cards from the top of their library until they reveal a creature card. Put that card onto the battlefield under your control. That player puts the rest of the revealed cards into their graveyard.
ID: 6b56ccbc-efc7-4c5c-84be-b63f8c4cd63c
Oracle ID: 7e79cb6c-df9a-46d1-b3c6-240297e7d47d
Multiverse IDs: 540455
TCGPlayer ID: 248757
Cardmarket ID: 575378
Colors: U
Color Identity: U
Keywords: Enchant
Rarity: Rare
Released: 2021-09-24
Artist: Sebastian Giacobino
Frame: 2015
Border: black
EDHRec Rank: 6419
Set: Midnight Hunt Commander (mic)
Collector #: 12
Legalities
- Standard — not_legal
- Future — not_legal
- Historic — not_legal
- Timeless — not_legal
- Gladiator — not_legal
- Pioneer — not_legal
- Modern — not_legal
- Legacy — legal
- Pauper — not_legal
- Vintage — legal
- Penny — not_legal
- Commander — legal
- Oathbreaker — legal
- Standardbrawl — not_legal
- Brawl — not_legal
- Alchemy — not_legal
- Paupercommander — not_legal
- Duel — legal
- Oldschool — not_legal
- Premodern — not_legal
- Predh — not_legal
Prices
- USD: 1.22
- EUR: 1.21
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