Force of Will MTG: Why It Costs $70+
If you’ve played Magic for more than a few months, you know the name Force of Will MTG. It’s the free counter that defines Legacy and Vintage, the rare blue instant that lets you stop a turn-one combo with a single card, and the spell that has decided more high-level tournaments than almost any other. It’s also one of the most expensive non-reserved-list cards in Magic, hovering around $70 for the most common modern frame and well over $300 for a foil Eternal Masters. This Spotlight walks through what it does, why it costs what it does, the long print history, and the practical case for playing it as a proxy in casual formats.
Quick Facts
Card Abilities
Force of Will has two parts and they work together:
Counter target spell. The base effect is a hard counter that can stop any spell — creatures, sorceries, other instants, planeswalkers, even activated abilities that target you. There is no “can’t be countered” clause on it.
Alternate cost. You may pay 1 life and exile a blue card from your hand rather than pay this spell’s mana cost. In other words, you can cast Force of Will for free, but only if (a) you have a blue card in hand to exile and (b) you can spare 1 life. This is the line that turns a 5-mana counter into a 0-mana counter and is the entire reason the card is so dominant in Legacy and Vintage.
The trade-off: you give up a card from your hand (permanently — exiling isn’t the same as discarding; it goes to exile) and 1 life. Over a long game, that’s real. But in tournament play where the alternative is losing on turn one, it’s almost always worth it.
The Price: Why So Expensive?
Force of Will’s price has held steady at $60-80 for a normal print (Eternal Masters or Double Masters) for years. Foils go for $300+. The reasons:
The Amonkhet Invocations Print (Section A)
The 2017 Amonkhet Invocations special printing is the most visually distinct Force of Will. Painted by Jaime Jones in his signature dark, atmospheric style, this version was released as a Judge promo / Planeswalker scheme reward. The art shows a more abstract, swirling blue energy — quite different from Terese Nielsen’s more literal illustrations.
Source: Scryfall — Amonkhet Invocations #14, illustrated by Jaime Jones.
The cheapest modern reprint (as of mid-2026) is the Dominaria Remastered #50 frame at around $60, with Eternal Masters #49 close behind. Foils double or triple the price. The original Alliances print stays around $75.
- Reserved List adjacent. While not on the Reserved List, the original Alliances print is so old and so iconic that Wizards won’t reprint it into Standard. Modern reprints are limited to Masters sets.
- Format staple. Force of Will sees heavy play in Legacy and Vintage. Both formats are small but high-stakes — players are willing to pay for the card.
- Commander EDHREC rank 191. That’s top 0.5% of all cards. Most blue decks run at least one copy if budget allows.
- Reprint scarcity. Since 2017, only Eternal Masters, Double Masters, Dominaria Remastered, and Secrets of Strixhaven have re-printed it.
The Print History
Force of Will has been printed 16 times since 1996. The most important versions for collectors and players:
The Alliances print by Terese Nielsen is the canonical 1996 art. Eternal Masters (2016) gave us a modern frame using the same Nielsen artwork — that’s the version most players buy for tournaments. Double Masters (2020) shipped a second modern-frame Nielsen reprint and remains widely available. Dominaria Remastered (2023) added a Donato Giancola variant in the old border.
Why It’s Banned in Modern (and Where It’s Still Legal)
Force of Will is currently:
Wizards banned it in Modern in 2004 because the card was warping the format — Modern was supposed to be the “everything since Eighth Edition” format, and a free counter that exiles another card from your hand was simply too strong for what Wizards wanted Modern to be. The ban has held for over 20 years and shows no signs of being reversed.
In Legacy and Vintage, Force of Will is one of the most-played non-creature spells in either format. Most blue decks run 4 copies.
In Commander, it shows up in roughly 1 in 4 blue decks according to EDHREC. It’s not as dominant because Commander’s life total is 40 (1 life is cheaper in Commander) and most playgroups accept proxies anyway.
- ✅ Legal in Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Oathbreaker, casual formats
- ❌ Banned in Modern, Historic, Brawl, Duel, Premodern
How Force of Will Plays in Each Format
Legacy and Vintage. This is where Force of Will shines. The deck archetypes that run it most heavily — Storm, Delver, Control — all rely on Force of Will to stop opposing combo decks from winning on turn 1 or 2. The 4-of is essentially mandatory. (If you’re playing Jund Modern or Mono Red Burn, Force of Will won’t show up — neither deck runs blue.)
Commander. The format where most players actually want to play with Force of Will but can’t always afford to. (A natural home is a blue superfriends list like Atraxa Superfriends when ported to Commander.) A single copy is plenty — you don’t need four in a singleton format — and most casual groups allow proxies, so the $70 price tag is the main barrier.
Casual kitchen-table Magic. Often played as a 1- or 2-of in casual blue decks. Most playgroups accept it; some ban it specifically to keep games from getting too counter-heavy. Always use Rule Zero to align before the game.
Modern and Historic. Banned. If you want a similar effect there, look at alternatives like [[Counterspell]], [[Dovin’s Veto]], [[Mystical Dispute]], or [[Force of Negation]].
The Case for Playing It as a Proxy
A few reasons proxies make sense specifically for Force of Will:
The argument against: in sanctioned Legacy or Vintage, you obviously need a real card. In casual Commander, a clearly-labeled proxy is fine.
- It’s a multi-format staple. Most players want at least one copy for casual play, but probably not for every format where it’s legal. Spending $70 on a card you’ll only use in one Commander deck doesn’t pencil out.
- The original art is iconic but old. The 1996 print is gorgeous but not tournament-legal in any meaningful sense for most players. A high-quality proxy of the Eternal Masters or Double Masters frame gives you the same gameplay experience.
- Counter spells are inherently feel-bad. Getting hit by a Force of Will in a casual game is rough enough without the additional sting of knowing your opponent paid $70 for the privilege. A proxy softens the social impact.