While most players chase powerful staples and optimized synergies, a hidden world of underappreciated unpopular enchantments gathers dust in the shadows of EDHREC’s tier lists. These cards appear in less than 2% of decks but may surprise you with their untapped potential. Let’s shine a light on ten of these forgotten enchantments.
1. Rites of Flourishing
Appearing in roughly 2.25% of decks, Rites of Flourishing is often misunderstood. At first glance, it looks like a typical group-hug card. Everyone gets to play an additional land each turn and draw an extra card. This symmetrical effect scares many Commander players away. After all, why would you give your opponents more gas?
But in the right deck, Rites of Flourishing isn’t just generous—it’s a speed boost. Landfall decks like Omnath, Locus of Creation or Tatyova, Benthic Druid thrive on additional land drops. The extra draws keep your hand full, fueling combo pieces or ramp spells. Sure, your opponents benefit too, but you’re (hopefully) more prepared to abuse those advantages.
It’s also a fantastic political tool. In games where opponents are stuck on lands or are short on cards, dropping Rites of Flourishing earns goodwill, potentially making you the last player targeted in early aggression.
One downside is when you’re playing a tempo game where you need to be ahead of the curve and you’re not equipped to outvalue your opponents with the tools it provides, Rites of Flourishing can quickly turn into a liability. Still, it’s a criminally underused card in green decks that want to explode early.
2. Coastal Piracy
With a mere 1.98% presence in EDH decks, Coastal Piracy is a blue enchantment that rewards combat aggression—a theme not typically associated with blue decks, which might explain its neglect. But in truth, this enchantment can quietly generate incredible value over the course of a game.
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, you draw a card. That’s it. No restrictions, no extra mana needed, just pure reward for doing what many decks already want to do—attack. In token-heavy builds like Edric, Spymaster of Trest or flying tribal decks (think Alela, Artful Provocateur), Coastal Piracy turns every chip damage into card advantage.
The problem is that many players overlook blue’s aggressive side. They’d rather counter spells or draw cards directly than swing with fliers. But blue doesn’t have to be passive—Coastal Piracy proves that a swarm of small evasive creatures can become a card-drawing engine that rivals Rhystic Study.
It’s best used in decks with consistent ways to get through blockers. Add in Rogue’s Passage, Whirler Rogue, or Reconnaissance Mission (its functional reprint), and you’re not just attacking—you’re digging deep into your library.
3. Sandwurm Convergence
At first glance, Sandwurm Convergence looks like a bulk rare. It costs a hefty eight mana, has no immediate board impact, and sits at a low 1.76% inclusion rate on EDHREC. But when played in the right context, it can be a fortress-level defensive enchantment and a slow-burning win condition.
Let’s start with its effects: opponents’ creatures with flying can’t attack you, and at the beginning of your end step, you create a 5/5 green Wurm creature token. That’s pure value and aerial lockdown.
The anti-flyer clause is surprisingly powerful. Many aggressive decks win with evasive creatures—spirits, dragons, faeries, angels—you name it. Sandwurm Convergence completely shuts down those strategies. Suddenly, that Alela deck can’t touch you, and dragon tribal has to look elsewhere.
Then there’s the wurm production. Unlike one-shot token makers, Sandwurm Convergence just keeps cranking out beefy 5/5s. In decks like Trostani or Rhys the Redeemed, it becomes a value engine. In a control build, it’s your pillow fort’s guard dog.
Its major drawback is the steep mana cost. But in green, ramping to eight mana isn’t that far-fetched. The payoff is a nearly impenetrable defense and a growing army. If your meta is full of flying threats or you love big tokens, this enchantment is worth a second look.
4. Oversold Cemetery
With about 2.02% deck usage, Oversold Cemetery is one of black’s most quietly powerful value engines—assuming you meet the condition. At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have four or more creature cards in your graveyard, you may return a creature from your graveyard to your hand.
For reanimator or sacrifice decks, this is a dream. You don’t lose life, spend extra mana, or exile cards. It just returns a creature to hand every turn. In commanders like Meren of Clan Nel Toth or Tormod, the Desecrator, that’s a constant loop of value.
The limitation is consistency. You need four creatures in your graveyard every turn. In some metas, that’s easy; in others, graveyard hate ruins your plans. Still, in self-mill or aristocrats decks, reaching the threshold isn’t hard—and once you do, the value is real.
Unlike full reanimation, which can be flashy and risky, Oversold Cemetery is subtle, efficient recursion that keeps your hand stocked with threats. If you’re running a black deck that lives and dies by its creatures, this enchantment deserves a slot.
5. No Mercy
No Mercy clocks in at just under 2% popularity, but its effect is brutal. Whenever a creature deals damage to you, destroy it. Simple, threatening, and immensely political.
This enchantment turns you into a porcupine—sure, people can attack you, but they’ll lose a creature for their trouble. In aggressive pods, this disincentivizes combat. In slower games, it buys you time to build your board.
Despite its straightforward power, many players overlook No Mercy for one reason: it paints a target on your back. Once it drops, your opponents may shift to removal or team up to eliminate you before their threats get axed. It’s not a stealthy card.
That said, in the right deck—particularly control or superfriends—it’s a lifesaver. Paired with cards like Propaganda or Ghostly Prison, it makes attacking you a nightmare. And if you’re playing pillow fort strategies in black, No Mercy is a must-have deterrent.
It’s not flashy or combo-y, but it’s powerful. In the current age of go-wide combat decks, this enchantment is an underplayed gem that forces opponents to think twice before swinging your way.
6. Perilous Forays
Despite its combo potential, Perilous Forays appears in under 2% of Commander decks. A five-mana green enchantment, it lets you pay one mana, sacrifice a creature, and search your library for a basic land card that shares a land type with that creature’s type and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Sounds specific? That’s because it is—but it’s also incredibly flexible with the right synergies.
Where this enchantment shines is in decks that generate lots of tokens or creatures you’re happy to recycle—like Scute Swarm, Avenger of Zendikar, or Hornet Queen. Each creature sacrificed turns into mana acceleration and landfall triggers, making this enchantment a hidden gem in green ramp-combo builds.
Another powerful synergy is with landfall triggers and aristocrat strategies. Combining this with Zendikar’s Roil, Omnath, Locus of Rage, or Field of the Dead creates a snowballing engine that floods your board with value.
Why is it unpopular? Because it’s complex and requires a setup. Many players would rather run straightforward ramp spells. But if your deck already generates creature fodder and you enjoy turning resources into long-term gain, Perilous Forays is an enchantment that deserves more love.
7. As Foretold
With about 2.10% inclusion, As Foretold looks flashy but remains underutilized in EDH. Its ability is powerful: each turn you get a free spell, increasing in value as the game progresses. For zero mana, that’s hard to beat.
At the beginning of each upkeep, you put a time counter on it. Then you can cast a spell with mana value equal to or less than the number of time counters—without paying its mana cost. This grows slowly, but by turn 4–5, you’re casting free counterspells, card draw, or bounce spells every round.
If you don’t have a deck full of suspend spells, free counters, or one-mana value instants, it sits idle early on. But in decks like Jhoira of the Ghitu, Narset, or other control builds, this becomes a must-answer threat.
In more casual pods or decks built for long games, As Foretold offers consistent value without requiring extra mana. It’s best treated like an investment—ignore the shiny cards in hand early and enjoy casting Cyclonic Rift or Dig Through Time later on for free.
8. Virtue of Knowledge
Sitting under 2.15% usage, Virtue of Knowledge is a recent blue enchantment that quietly doubles your enter-the-battlefield triggers. It’s an Adventure card, meaning it has two sides—the instant half copies an ETB ability on the stack, and the enchantment half makes all of your ETBs trigger twice.
This card slots into any blink, clone, or ETB-heavy strategy. Think Yarok, Panharmonicon, or Brago decks. Cloning effects, value creatures, and even landfall triggers get immense benefit from doubling. What’s more, the Adventure half gives you instant-speed value, copying an existing ETB like Mulldrifter or Solemn Simulacrum.
If your deck relies on flickering creatures or copying abilities, this enchantment is both thematic and powerful. In Simic, Azorius, or Temur builds, it enhances the value engine significantly.
9. Virtue of Persistence
At just over 2% usage, Virtue of Persistence is a black Adventure enchantment that gives you a repeatable reanimation effect at your end step. Every turn, you can return a creature from your graveyard to the battlefield. That’s a powerful and rare ability to find on an enchantment.
Its Adventure half is a sorcery that destroys a creature and gains you life. Useful on its own, especially early-game, and great to cast before sticking the enchantment side.
In decks that love recursion—Chainer, Muldrotha, or even mono-black zombie builds—Virtue of Persistence is both value and threat. The enchantment demands removal or it will take over the game. Every end step becomes another threat entering the battlefield.
If you’re already running Reanimate or Animate Dead, consider this as your long-game alternative.
10. Primeval Bounty
This green enchantment appears in a shocking 1.44% of decks despite doing everything green loves. Primeval Bounty is a six-mana enchantment that gives you three different types of rewards based on what kind of spell or card you play:
- Play a noncreature: get three +1/+1 counter on a target creature.
- Play a land: gain 3 life.
- Cast a creature spell: make a 3/3 Beast.
This is a value machine. For any deck that plays a balanced mix of spells and land, you’re constantly churning out bodies, life, and counters. It turns your basic game actions into resource advantage.
It shines brightest in mono-green or Gruul midrange decks that don’t want to combo but want to grind. The token generation helps against board wipes, and the lifegain can keep you in the game longer.
Why isn’t it used? Likely due to its six-mana cost and the lack of immediate board impact. But like most underplayed enchantments on this list, the long-term payoff is huge. If you’re looking to go wide and out-value your opponents without relying on combos, Primeval Bounty is worth revisiting.
While not every enchantment is a game-warping staple, many of these underplayed options offer powerful, unique effects when given the right home. Whether you’re building jank, going deep on synergy, or just want to try something new, don’t be afraid to dip into the under 2% club. Your opponents won’t see it coming—and sometimes, that’s the best advantage of all.