During Magic’s early years, Prison elements and general lock pieces were printed quite frequently. While many of them had symmetrical effects or otherwise required putting in extra work to utilize, these cards could provide some of the most devastating effects.
One of the most unique options that fits the mold was printed back in Urza’s Legacy. While the card has stood the test of time to an extent, it remains underplayed despite how powerful it can be with the right support.
Opposition MTG
Despite being a very simple design, Opposition has a lot of play to it. This is in part because the enchantment is incredibly flexible. Being able to tap down potential attackers as well as mana sources during your opponent’s upkeep makes Opposition the ultimate lock piece. In decks that are looking to go wide, such as Survival of the Fittest shells in Premodern, you can reach a point where you completely lock your opponent out of casting spells.
In a multiplayer Commander setting, however, this becomes a bit more difficult. Your best bet is to play effects like Seedborn Muse that untap your squad every turn. You can also use Opposition to tap your own creatures, gaining additional benefits. Kona, Rescue Beastie, and the new Adept Watershaper are two examples of cards that can generate additional value with Opposition.
Taking things a step further, there are numerous Commanders that pay you off for tapping opposing creatures. None utilize Opposition better than Hylda of the Icy Crown, flooding the board with tokens as a payoff. Even Rhoda, Geist Avenger, however, can grow absolutely enormous alongside Opposition and a big board of creatures.
Combo Potential
For those looking to go above and beyond, there are a handful of different combo avenues you can take to fully maximize Opposition. First, if you can assemble the combo of Hylda, Opposition, and Phyrexian Altar, you can keep all of your opponents’ creatures tapped every turn and prevent yourself from ever getting attacked. Before combat on each turn, start by tapping an untapped creature you control to tap one of your opponent’s. Once Hylda triggers, you can sacrifice your tapped creature to pay for Hylda’s cost and make a 4/4. You can then use your string of 4/4s to repeat this process over and over until your opponent has no untapped creatures. A similar lock can also be executed using Verity Circle and Mind Over Matter with Opposition, allowing you to draw your deck.
Sticking to the looting theme, putting together the combo of Opposition, The Watcher in the Water, and Unctus, Grand Metatect lets you churn through your entire library and flood the board with tokens. By activating Opposition by tapping a blue creature during an opponent’s turn, you’ll trigger Unctus. This, in turn, triggers The Watcher to net you another blue creature to keep the chain going. You can similarly use some three-card combos with Opposition and Intruder Alarm to create an endless stream of tokens with cards like Pestered Wellguard.
Deserves More Respect
With all these benefits combined, it’s easy to see why Opposition pulls its weight. Yet, the card remains heavily undervalued in Commander. According to EDHREC, only 20,500 decks currently play Opposition, with a big portion of those being Hylda decks.
Making things better, Opposition’s price tag is also quite cheap. Thanks to its reprint in Dominaria Remastered, players can easily pick up a copy as an EDH upgrade for $0.40. So, if you’ve been looking for a strong interactive tool for a creature-centric archetype, look no further.
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