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Moxonomy

Pillory of the Sleepless

Enchantment — Aura1 generic manaWhite manaBlack mana

Pacifism with a tax attached. The white half does the familiar work: an enchanted creature locked out of both attacking and blocking is, for combat purposes, gone without ever leaving the battlefield. What the black splash buys is the recurring upkeep drain, which closes the loop that pure Pacifism-style effects leave open. A creature shut off from combat is still a body that can carry equipment, tap for mana, or sit there as a saboteur threat the moment the Aura comes off; the life loss turns the lock into a clock, so the answer keeps applying pressure even after the threat has gone inert. It is removal that does not remove, which means it sidesteps regeneration, indestructibility, and any death trigger the opponent might be banking on, while still demanding an enchantment-removal answer the way no targeted kill spell does. The cost of that durability is the cost every Aura pays: a two-for-one if the creature is exiled, bounced, or sacrificed in response, and dead weight against a creatureless board. That fragility is what stops a strictly-upgraded Pacifism from being free, and it explains why the design has stayed a conditional answer rather than a default one across the formats where it is legal: the drain rewards you for landing it early, but the Aura's vulnerability punishes you for leaning on it as your only plan.

Pillory of the Sleepless (gpt)
GPT · #125common
Pricing
Normal: $0.12
Foil: $1.15
Oracle Text

Rules text

Enchant creature Enchanted creature can't attack or block. Enchanted creature has "At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life."
Legalities

Format Status

Standard
N/A
Pioneer
N/A
Modern
Legal
Legacy
Legal
Vintage
Legal
Commander
Legal
Pauper
Legal
Brawl
N/A
Historic
N/A
Alchemy
N/A
Timeless
N/A
Standard Brawl
N/A
More formats
Old School
N/A
Premodern
N/A
PreDH
Legal
Pauper Commander
Legal
Oathbreaker
Legal
Gladiator
N/A
Penny Dreadful
Legal
Duel Commander
Legal
Future Standard
N/A
COMPETITIVEBRAWL
N/A
TLR
Legal
Printings elsewhere

Other printings

4 sets
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