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Contempt in Commander: A Window into Top-Deck Frequency

For many of us, the thrill of Commander lies in tempo games, subtle saucy plays, and that irresistible moment when a single card quietly hints at victory. Contempt, the {1}{U} enchantment from Stronghold, is a perfect case study for how a modest aura can influence the flow of a game long after it’s drawn. This blue enchantment — Enchant creature — is not a late-game haymaker, but it belongs to the same family of cards that trims the edges of a table where everyone is trying to accelerate into advantage. 🧙‍♂️🔥💎

In the hands of a careful pilot, Contempt chips away at aggression by forcing decision trees at end of combat. Its behavior—returning both the enchanted creature and the aura to their owners’ hands when the creature attacks—creates a recurring tempo loop. The aura returns to the command zone (or the owner’s hand, depending on how you look at it), and you’ve spent 2 mana to reset the battlefield’s tempo while preserving your life total and options. It’s a classic control-play kind of card: not flashy, but capable of turning a stalemate into a drawn-out chess match. And in Commander, where multi-step turns are the norm, that kind of tempo swing can be priceless. ⚔️🎲

Card snapshot

• Name: Contempt
• Set: Stronghold (STH)
• Rarity: Common
• Layout: Normal
• ManaCost: {1}{U}
• Type: Enchantment — Aura
• Colors: Blue
• Oracle Text: Enchant creature. When enchanted creature attacks, return it and this Aura to their owners' hands at end of combat.
• Legalities (commander): Legal
• Flavor text: "Predictable little man. In all these years you taught me so much yet learned so little." —Volrath, to Starke
• Artist: Val Mayerik
• EDHREC Rank: 25318
• Price (approx.): USD 0.14 (nonfoil)

When you run Contempt in a Commander deck, you’re not just packing a defensive trick—you’re embracing a very particular type of inevitability. The top-deck question is a natural one: how often does Contempt appear on the top of your library when you actually need it? In a 100-card Commander deck, if you include Contempt as one of your cards, your raw chance of drawing it on any given draw is roughly its copy count divided by 100. If you run four copies, that’s about 4% per draw; with one copy, about 1%. While these numbers feel small in isolation, they compound dramatically across a full game filled with draws and recasts. 🧙‍♂️✨

But real life isn’t a simple probability exercise. Commander games are full of variables: mulligans, draw spells, wheel effects, and even the way shuffle quality can nudge a top-deck one way or another. A table with four players could see more draws per game, increasing the absolute number of times Contempt might appear in play even if the per-draw probability is modest. The creature you enchant might be a commander-level problem-solver; the aura’s return-to-hand mechanic can turn a single attack into a full circle of tempo that buys you a full turn or three of breathing room. In practice, top-deck frequency becomes a question of deck-building philosophy as much as math. And yes, it’s a little magical to see Contempt land just when you need it most, like a reliable spark in a long, low-curve match. 🧙‍♂️🔥

“Kontrol is a dance with risk: you trade tempo for inevitability, and Contempt is a patient tempo aid that reminds you to pace your aggression.”

From a design perspective, Contempt embodies the elegance of older MTG eras: a small, efficient card that fits neatly into blue’s toolbox of card advantage and disruption. Its aura-shroud flavor and the end-of-combat bounce synergy feel almost prophetic of later blue play patterns—bounce, reuse, and reset. The Stronghold era gave us many such moments, and Contempt sits comfortably among them as a reminder that sometimes the smallest card can have the biggest strategic ripple when placed on the right creature at the right moment. 🎨⚔️

In terms of collector interest, Contempt isn’t a heavy-hitter in price, but its place in a 1998 set makes it a nostalgic piece for players who cut their teeth on early blue tempo decks. It’s a reminder of the era when commander-friendly design was evolving, and cards began to showcase the long-game value of simply having more decisions at your disposal. For any modern EDH player, Contempt offers a compact reminder: reactivity, tempo, and tempo-centric attack planning can be as potent as any big game-finisher. 💎

As you plan your next Commander table, consider where Contempt fits into your color identity and tempo plan. If you’re leaning into the classic blue archetype—protective draws, selective disruption, and opportunistic re-uses—Contempt can be a quiet backbone that keeps your engine running while your opponents race to a finish line you’re not quite ready to defend. And if you’re curious about how frequently top-decks like Contempt appear, you can test it in small pilot games, track your top-deck outcomes, and watch the data accumulate—because, in the end, MTG is as much about the stories we tell around the table as the cards we draw. 🧙‍♂️🎲

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