Ojutai's Command MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. Enhances game control with drawing, reanimation, and instant-speed play.
  2. Mana requirements can limit deck-building options.
  3. Offers significant strategic depth for control and midrange decks.

Text of card

Choose two — • Return target creature card with converted mana cost 2 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. • You gain 4 life. • Counter target creature spell. • Draw a card.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Ojutai’s Command has the potential to draw a card as part of its resolution, keeping your hand replenished and potentially outpacing your opponent’s resources which is crucial for controlling the game.

Resource Acceleration: This command offers the versatility to return a creature card with converted mana cost 2 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. This not only recoups loss but can also re-initiate enter-the-battlefield effects, speeding up your board presence.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Ojutai’s Command at instant speed provides a strategic advantage, allowing you to respond to an opponent’s actions on their turn, or end yours with a surprise play that can shift the game in your favor.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Ojutai’s Command doesn’t directly require discarding, it does force tough decisions if opting to draw a card. Holding onto it for the right moment might mean passing up other immediate plays or discarding at the end of your turn due to hand size limits.

Specific Mana Cost: Ojutai’s Command demands a rigid mana combination of blue and white, potentially restricting deck building flexibility and making it less appealing for multicolored decks not aligned with these colors.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing four mana, this command competes with other impactful four-mana spells. In environments where speed is critical, its cost may prove too taxing, especially when compared to more cost-efficient or versatile options available.


Reasons to Include Ojutai’s Command in Your Collection

Versatility: Ojutai’s Command provides a range of choices that allows it to fit seamlessly into control or midrange decks. Its utility extends from countering creature spells to reanimating a small creature, from drawing a card to gaining 4 life, making it adaptable to various in-game situations.

Combo Potential: This command works wonders in decks that capitalize on “Enter the Battlefield” effects. The ability to return a creature with a converted mana cost of 2 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield can set off an array of powerful combos or value chains.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where tempo plays and creature-based strategies are prevalent, Ojutai’s Command offers a significant edge. It can disrupt opponent plays while simultaneously advancing your board state or card advantage, keeping you relevant against a wide array of competitive decks.


How to beat

Ojutai’s Command is a versatile option within the strategy card game Magic: The Gathering. Offering the choice of four powerful modes, it can disrupt opposing tactics while advancing your own game plan. To effectively counter this card, players must recognize the situations when Ojutai’s Command is most potent—a recovery from a creature losing engagement or a significant tempo swing with its counterability and life gain.

One approach to overcoming Ojutai’s Command is by utilizing cards that can’t be countered, ensuring your key spells resolve. Also, playing a range of low-cost creatures can mitigate the impact of the Command’s resuscitative ability. Lastly, baiting out the Command at a less critical time and then following up with an even more impactful play can diminish its overall efficacy. Keeping pressure on an Ojutai’s Command user can often tip the scales in your favor, hindering their plans while cementing yours firmly on the battlefield.

In essence, outpacing the card’s value-gain and strategic versatility with clever baiting, uncounterable spells, and relentless pressure can be the key to eclipsing Ojutai’s Command in Magic: The Gathering.


Cards like Ojutai's Command

Ojutai’s Command is an intriguing choice among versatile counter cards in Magic: The Gathering. This spell bears similarities to others like Cryptic Command, which offers modal flexibility and can counter spells, although Ojutai’s Command has a distinct limitation to creature spells. Both commands can provide additional effects, such as card draw, but Ojutai’s Command uniquely offers the capability to resurrect a two-mana creature directly to the battlefield, a boon for creature-centric decks.

Contrasting it with Silumgar’s Command reveals another dimensional difference in utility. While Silumgar’s Command costs one mana more and doesn’t allow for bringing creatures back to life, it has a wider range of target options, including the ability to destroy Planeswalkers. Finally, there’s Isperia’s Command, a conceptual relative that doesn’t exist but if it did, it would likely carry the hallmark versatility of the Command series, potentially tailored to control flyers, reflective of Isperia’s association with the skies.

Overall, Ojutai’s Command’s specific combination of abilities positions it as a uniquely flexible and strategic tool for players looking to counter and capitalize on creature spells within their MTG gameplay.

Cryptic Command - MTG Card versions
Silumgar's Command - MTG Card versions
Cryptic Command - Lorwyn (LRW)
Silumgar's Command - Dragons of Tarkir (DTK)

Cards similar to Ojutai's Command by color, type and mana cost

Stand // Deliver - MTG Card versions
Reviving Vapors - MTG Card versions
Aethermage's Touch - MTG Card versions
Azorius Ploy - MTG Card versions
Vanish into Memory - MTG Card versions
Repel Intruders - MTG Card versions
Mirrorweave - MTG Card versions
Aethertow - MTG Card versions
Offering to Asha - MTG Card versions
Dovin's Dismissal - MTG Card versions
Sphinx's Insight - MTG Card versions
Twining Twins // Swift Spiral - MTG Card versions
Threadbind Clique // Rip the Seams - MTG Card versions
Stand // Deliver - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Reviving Vapors - Ultimate Masters (UMA)
Aethermage's Touch - Double Masters 2022 (2X2)
Azorius Ploy - Dissension (DIS)
Vanish into Memory - Forgotten Realms Commander (AFC)
Repel Intruders - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Mirrorweave - Commander Anthology Volume II (CM2)
Aethertow - Modern Masters 2017 (MM3)
Offering to Asha - Alara Reborn (ARB)
Dovin's Dismissal - Ravnica Allegiance (RNA)
Sphinx's Insight - Ravnica Allegiance (RNA)
Twining Twins // Swift Spiral - Wilds of Eldraine (WOE)
Threadbind Clique // Rip the Seams - Wilds of Eldraine (WOE)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Ojutai's Command MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Dragons of Tarkir, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Ojutai's Command and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Ojutai's Command Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2015-03-27 and 2021-05-27. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 558782015normalblackCraig J Spearing
22015-03-27Dragons of TarkirDTK 2272015normalblackWillian Murai
32015-03-28Dragons of Tarkir PromosPDTK 2272015normalblackCraig J Spearing
42015-03-28Dragons of Tarkir PromosPDTK 227s2015normalblackWillian Murai
52021-05-27Historic Anthology 5HA5 182015normalblackWillian Murai

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Ojutai's Command has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
BrawlLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Ojutai's Command card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2015-02-25 As the spell resolves, follow the instructions of the modes you chose in the order they are printed on the card. For example, if you chose the second and fourth modes of Ojutai’s Command, you would gain 4 life and then draw a card. (The order won’t matter in most cases.)
2015-02-25 If a Command is copied, the effect that creates the copy will usually allow you to choose new targets for the copy, but you can’t choose new modes.
2015-02-25 If all targets for the chosen modes become illegal before the Command resolves, the spell won’t resolve and none of its effects will happen. If at least one target is still legal, the spell will resolve but will have no effect on any illegal targets.
2015-02-25 You can choose a mode only if you can choose legal targets for that mode. Ignore the targeting requirements for modes that aren’t chosen. For example, you can cast Ojutai’s Command without targeting a creature spell provided you don’t choose the third mode.
2015-02-25 You choose the two modes as you cast the spell. You must choose two different modes. Once modes are chosen, they can’t be changed.

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