Terrifying as it is to think about, it has now been a staggering 21 years since Wizards introduced Ravnica to Magic. The plane was an immediate hit thanks to its strong Guild concept, as well as its solid suite of powerful cards. That said, two decades is a long time, and a lot of the bangers from the original Ravnica block have now been lost in the churn. Mark of Eviction is a prime example, seeing very little play in MTG nowadays despite its huge utility as a removal spell, value piece, and combo enabler.
Mark Of Eviction MTG
Right out of the gate, Mark of Eviction is an incredibly low-cost way to bounce any creature in play, making it great as removal. While it is slow, since you need to wait until your upkeep for it to trigger, there are ways to work around that. Cards like Icy Manipulator can tap down creatures while you wait for the bounce, for instance. Otherwise, Obeka, Splitter of Seconds can bring your upkeep forward to get the bounce the same turn.
Having to jump through hoops like this for removal isn’t ideal, but the fact that Mark of Eviction bounces itself is a major upside. This lets you re-use the card each turn, to keep the biggest threat in play under control. With how often new problems can emerge in Commander, this flexbility is a huge edge.
While it’s solid as a removal spell, Mark of Eviction arguably has even more to offer as a value piece. Attach it to one of your own creatures with a powerful enters ability, like Baleful Strix or Ravenous Chupacabra, and you can enjoy its benefits every turn. You can even create pseudo-locks by bouncing the likes of Kardur, Doomscourge, warding off all enemy attacks repeatedly.
Though Mark of Eviction is useful in a wide range of decks, it really shines in Enchantress brews. Thanks to its ability to be re-cast, this card can trigger Entity Tracker and Mesa Enchantress every turn. That it can also bounce your other Auras takes it to another level, however, letting you get extra value out of cantrips like Dragon Mantle and Feather of Flight.
On top of this, Mark Of Eviction is excellent with all the ‘when you cast your second spell each turn’ cards. This makes it ideal in decks like Shiko and Narset, Unified and those that care about casting noncreature spells, like Hurkyl, Master Wizard.
Doing The Time Warp
Mark of Eviction is solid in day-to-day MTG Commander play, but it gets even better when you consider its propensity for infinite turn combos. Perhaps the simplest of these lines involves Sage of Hours and Shape of the Wiitigo.
Kitting Sage out with both Auras will give it eight total +1/+1 counters, five of which you can remove to take an extra turn. Once that turn starts, Mark of Eviction will bounce all three cards, and you can repeat this process infinitely. In a similar vein, you can use Mark of Eviction with Archaeomancer to loop an extra turn spell like Time Warp.
If you want to get a bit funkier, you can bring in Wormfang Manta and Scroll of Fate for yet another infinite turns line. Simply tap Scroll to Manifest Manta from your hand, then turn it face-up for seven mana to dodge its enters trigger. Then enchant it with Mark of Eviction, and on your next upkeep, it’ll bounce back to your hand. This will grant an extra turn as Wormfang Manta leaves, and will let you repeat the process again.
A Real Hidden Gem
Despite its wide range of uses, Mark of Eviction is wildly underplayed in Commander right now. EDHREC data reveals that just 838 decks in total run the card, which is low by any standard. Even in the blue enchantress decks like Tuvasa the Sunlit, where the card should fit like a glove, it’s barely seeing double-digit play.
While it’s a shame that more players aren’t enjoying Mark of Eviction, its current obscurity is great for its price. Right now, you can grab near-mint copies of the card for just $0.10, and foils aren’t marked up much either at only $0.52. For a useful single-printing card from 21 years ago, these prices aren’t bad at all.
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