Duress
Duress is a black card, legal in Premodern, shown in its old-frame Seventh Edition printing.
Price and printings: Cardmarket (€0.89) · TCGplayer ($0.59) · Scryfall
How often Duress is played
Duress is maindecked in 27 of 77 tournament decks in this archive (35%), averaging 3.6 copies; kept in 6 sideboards (8%); used by 8 of 21 tracked archetypes.
Counting only the 45 decks that can cast black cards, 30 of them play it (67%).
See how it compares on the Premodern staples list.
Premodern archetypes that play Duress
- Mono Black: The surgical strike: takes the removal spell, sweeper or combo piece before it matters, and the information it gives makes every later Cabal Therapy a guaranteed hit.
- Psychatog: Turn-one disruption against Enchantress, Replenish, Oath and the mirror, and the main reason the deck holds up against combo without access to Force of Will.
- The Rock (3x)
- Deadguy Ale: The setup card and the information engine. It takes the relevant spell, it tells you whether Specter, Arena or Angel is safe to deploy, and it narrows what Gerrard's Verdict can miss. Almost every good sequence in this deck starts here.
- Clerics (4x)
- Dromar Control: Strips the counter or the sweeper before you commit, and shows you the hand so the next Meddling Mage names correctly. Close to a blank against creature decks.
- Zombies (3x)
Tournament decks with Duress
- The Rock: 3rd Place at Premodern MTGO Challenge (4× mainboard)
- UBG Madness: 1st Place at Lega Roma - IV Tappa (3× mainboard)
- UWB Control: 5th Place at Premodern MTGO Challenge (4× mainboard)
- Basic Mono Black: 4th Place at Andre's League 10 Tappa (4× mainboard)
- Angry Hermit: 5th Place at $1K @ SCG CON Dallas (4× mainboard)
- Horror Stompy: 3rd Place at MTGO Premodern Challenge (4× mainboard)
- UBG Control Sideboard: 1st Place at Mercadian Frogs @ Troll2jeux (Paris, France) (4× main + sideboard)
- Mono Black Aggro: 4th Place at Lega Milano 3/12 (4× mainboard)
- 5C Solution: 2nd Place at Peach Ball @ Giga-Bites (3× sideboard)
- Mono Black Reanimator: 3rd Place at Open Coquimbo Agosto 2026 (4× main + sideboard)
- Moneyball: 1st Place at LPP x Trial Épico (4× mainboard)
- Junk Nightmare: 1st Place at Premodern Monthly (1× mainboard)
- BRG Midrange: 7th Place at PM Burro Singles @SPMCR (4× mainboard)
- BR Carnophage Ponza: 3rd Place at Torneo @ Comix Café (4× mainboard)
- The Solution: 1st Place at Polish Premodern Nationals (4× mainboard)
- Deadguy Angels: 1st Place at Lega Premodern La Contea (4× mainboard)
- Mono Black Aggro: 1st Place at Mogg Monthly: Sligh July (4× mainboard)
- Mono B Control: 7th Place at Premodern & Hooters 8th Edition (4× mainboard)
- Machine Head: 4th Place at Premodern Mainz Monthly (4× mainboard)
- zombies: 4th Place at La Parroquia Friday Night (3× sideboard)
- Black Contamination: 3rd Place at PREM Brescia (4× mainboard)
- Reanimator: 1st Place at MTGO Premodern League (4× sideboard)
- Mono Black: 6th Place at PMPMPMPM XXXVIII (3× main + sideboard)
- Clerics: 1st Place at MTGO Premodern League (4× mainboard)
- Pox: 3rd Place at Liga Premodern Alicante 2026 9ª Jornada (4× mainboard)
- BG Rack: 3rd Place at Lega Milano 3/12 (4× mainboard)
- Dromar Control: 1st Place at Monthly Premodern Beagá (4× mainboard)
- Moneyball Black: 2nd Place at Liga Paulista de Premodern 2026 (4× mainboard)
- Black Clerics: 2nd Place at Lega Milano 3/9 (4× mainboard)
- BW Control: 5th Place at LWPP Maio/2026 Top8 (4× mainboard)
Spicy brews with Duress
- Great Combo (4×)
- Deadapult (4×)
- Hypnotic Wurm (4×)
- Battle of Wits (4×)
- Painters (4×)
