Key to the City
Key to the City: Artifact, Commander 2021. Tap, Discard a card: Up to one target creature can't be blocked this turn. Prices and printings on Mana Grove.
- Mana cost
- {2}
- Mana value
- 2
- Type
- Artifact
- Colour identity
- Colourless
- Rarity
- Rare
- Set
- Commander 2021 (C21)
- Released
- 2021-04-23
- Collector number
- 248
- Artist
- Sean Murray
- Commander rank
- 1,322 (by how often it appears in Commander decks)
Build around this card with Grover
About Key to the City
Key to the City is a Magic: The Gathering card, a rare colourless artifact from Commander 2021 (C21), a Commander product released in April 2021. It is collector number 248 in that set, with art by Sean Murray. It costs {2} (two generic mana) to cast, for a mana value of 2. It has no colour identity. It is legal in Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Historic, Timeless, Gladiator and Penny Dreadful. It has been printed in 7 sets, from Kaladesh (2016) to Final Fantasy Commander (2025). The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $0.54 (normal finish, as of 2026-11-03).
Card text
{T}, Discard a card: Up to one target creature can't be blocked this turn.
Whenever this artifact becomes untapped, you may pay {2}. If you do, draw a card.
It would be unfortunate if the key fell into the wrong hands.
Market price
Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $0.54 (as of 2026-11-03).
The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.
Format legality
Legality of Key to the City by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.
| Pioneer | Legal |
|---|---|
| Modern | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Penny Dreadful | Legal |
Other printings of Key to the City
Key to the City has been printed in 7 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.
| Printing | Rarity | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Final Fantasy Commander (FIC) #348 | Rare | 2025 |
| The Brothers' War Retro Artifacts (BRR) #27 | Rare | 2022 |
| The Brothers' War Retro Artifacts (BRR) #90 | Rare | 2022 |
| The Brothers' War Retro Artifacts (BRR) #90z | Rare | 2022 |
| Kaladesh Remastered (KLR) #248 | Rare | 2020 |
| Commander 2019 (C19) #216 | Rare | 2019 |
| Kaladesh (KLD) #220 | Rare | 2016 |
| Kaladesh Promos (PKLD) #220s | Rare | 2016 |
Official rulings
Four official rulings apply to Key to the City, newest first.
- You can activate Key to the City's first ability without targeting any creature.
- You can pay {2} only once each time Key to the City's triggered ability resolves. You can't pay more to draw additional cards.
- Key to the City's last ability triggers during your untap step, but it's put onto the stack at the same time as abilities that trigger at the beginning of your upkeep step. Even though Key to the City's ability triggered first, you may order it before or after other abilities you control that are put onto the stack at this time.
- Activating Key to the City's ability targeting a creature that has already been blocked won't cause it to become unblocked.
Similar cards
Other artifact cards with no colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.
In these precons
Key to the City is in the decklist of these preconstructed Commander decks.