Invoke Prejudice in Magic: The Gathering

Some cards in Magic: The Gathering need to get (and stay) banned because of their cultural insensitivity. Invoke Prejudice in MTG is an enchantment that undeniably falls into this category. What’s more, its banning (and a few other factors) led to an increase in the price of this card.

What Is Invoke Prejudice in MTG?

Invoke Prejudice in MTG is a blue enchantment that costs four blue mana to cast. The text on this enchantment is outdated—which makes it a bit hard to understand. As such, we’re translating it to “modern” MTG wording for you.

Let’s break down the card effects into a bullet point list for maximum clarity:

• If your opponent casts a creature spell that does not match the color of any of your creatures, that opponent creature spell is countered
• The opponent creature spell that is the target of Invoke Prejudice is not countered if the opponent pays X
  • X is the mana value of the creature spell

Regarding that last point, the opponent essentially needs to pay double the mana value of their spell to avoid getting their creature countered.

Origins of Invoke Prejudice in MTG

Invoke Prejudice is from the Legends expansion—the third overall expansion set in Magic: The Gathering. It was released in June 1994 and mostly focused on myths, fantastical elements, and folklore. Appropriately, this expansion introduced the legendary creature and legendary land mechanics.

In addition to the aforementioned came the legend rule. This new rule states that multiple copies of a legendary creature or land cannot be played by the same player.

Less relevant but still worth mentioning is that the Legends expansion also introduced multicolored cards.

Invoke Prejudice MTG Price

Currently, the best place to buy copies of Invoke Prejudice is on Card Trader. Prices vary depending on the quality of the copy; however, poor variants run for $200-$300 while near-mint versions of Invoke Prejudice can get up to $800-$900. Keep in mind that MTG card prices tend to fluctuate.

Why Is Invoke Prejudice Worth So Much?

There are two main factors contributing to Invoke Prejudice’s price: its historic significance and its banned status.

As a blue counter card released in 1994, it has a lot of value there already. Blue cards from the early days of MTG are usually some of the rarest and most valuable in the game’s entire lifespan. This is not a rule, mind you; it’s a byproduct of the power such cards may possess. Time Walk and Ancestral Recall from the Alpha set are prime examples of this notion.

Then, we need to examine the art, outdated text, and other elements surrounding the card’s physical qualities. They don’t make MTG cards like this anymore, so those that feature traits that are no longer obtainable become more valuable. On that note, Invoke Prejudice has been out of print for over three decades.

With that said, there are a lot of cards that meet the above criteria, yet most aren’t worth more than a few bucks.

Why Invoke Prejudice Is Banned

Let’s be direct about Invoke Prejudice’s banned status: it straight-up shows individuals dressed like KKK members. There isn’t any flavor text to elaborate on what’s going on either; we’re left to assume as we will. The depiction of an infamously hateful group on a card is unheard of both now and back then.

Even the other cards banned for being culturally offensive don’t cross this line to such a significant degree. The shock factor has certainly ramped up this card’s price. As such, Invoke Prejudice gains value as memorabilia as much as it does from being a rare card.

Unlike Jihad from the Arabian Nights expansion, Invoke Prejudice from the Legends set is objectively offensive. It was then and it’s even more so now. We’re glad Wizards of the Coast became more culturally sensitive over time. Now all they need to do is cut back on the hilariously (and slightly insulting) direct marketing to their target demographic. More MTG pancakes, anyone?