Card
The Lord of Pain
Mana cost {3}{B}{R}
Legendary Creature — Human Assassin 5/5
Menace Your opponents can't gain life. Whenever a player casts their first spell each turn, choose another target player. The Lord of Pain deals damage equal to that spell's mana value to the chosen player.
No bracket restriction: playable from bracket 1. 4 official rulings.
- Commander
- Legal
- Printing
- Mythic · DSC · #3
- Cheapest printing
- €9.58
- EDHREC salt
- 0.97
- Color identity
- Black, Red
- Keywords
- Menace
Bracket
- B1 Exhibition — allowed: No restriction at this bracket
- B2 Core — allowed: No restriction at this bracket
- B3 Upgraded — allowed: No restriction at this bracket
- B4 Optimized — allowed: No restriction beyond the banned list
- B5 cEDH — allowed: No restriction beyond the banned list
Why
- No Game Changer, mass land denial, extra turn, tutor or two-card combo
How Lotus Vault estimates a bracket
Bracket: Lotus Vault analysis, with Commander Spellbook flags
Combos
No known combos for this card.
Combos: Commander Spellbook
Rulings
- 2024-09-20 · Wizards of the Coast
The Lord of Pain's last ability must target a player other than the one who cast the spell that caused the ability to trigger. That means that if it's just you and one other player in the game, you'll have to target yourself when that player casts their first spell each turn. (What did you expect? You summoned The Lord of Pain!) - 2024-09-20 · Wizards of the Coast
If a spell has {X} in its mana cost, use the value chosen for X when determining that spell's mana value. - 2024-09-20 · Wizards of the Coast
Spells and abilities that cause opponents to gain life still resolve while The Lord of Pain is on the battlefield. They won't gain life, but any other effects of that spell or ability will still happen. - 2024-09-20 · Wizards of the Coast
If an effect says to set an opponent's life total to a number that's higher than their current life total, that player's life total won't change.
Rulings: Scryfall · Wizards of the Coast