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Altar of Dementia

Artifact

Sacrifice a creature: Target player mills cards equal to the sacrificed creature's power.

CMC
2
Mana cost
{2}
Color identity
C
Rarity
rare
Set
Conspiracy
Price
$20.03
EDHREC rank
#611
Buy on TCGplayer
Altar of Dementia card art
Altar of Dementia is a zero-mana-activation sacrifice outlet that mills opponents as a win condition — the moment you assemble an infinite loop, the game ends on the spot. It's the preferred sac outlet in loops built around Luminous Broodmoth and in high-synergy lists like Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver precisely because it converts each sacrifice into direct progress rather than just fodder management.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Dargo, the ShipwreckerTymna the Weaver

Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver

91.9% of decks · synergy 0.88

Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver runs Altar of Dementia in over 90% of its builds because it's the cleanest win outlet for the Dargo-based reanimator loops — sacrifice Dargo to mill, reanimate, repeat until every opponent's library is gone.

02
Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis

Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis

57.1% of decks · synergy 0.50

Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis uses Altar of Dementia to self-mill aggressively in the early game, fueling the graveyard convoke and delve that power Hogaak out ahead of curve. In loops, it doubles as the finisher.

03
Celes, Rune Knight

Celes, Rune Knight

40.9% of decks · synergy 0.37

Celes, Rune Knight builds that center on graveyard recursion and +1/+1 counter synergies use Altar of Dementia as a reliable free outlet to keep the sacrifice loop moving while milling opponents down as a secondary win condition.

04
Araumi of the Dead Tide

Araumi of the Dead Tide

41.4% of decks · synergy 0.37

Araumi of the Dead Tide wants cards in graveyards — both yours and opponents' — and Altar of Dementia feeds that engine while also serving as the loop closer when Araumi's encore triggers stack into infinite recursion.

05
The Capitoline Triad

The Capitoline Triad

38.0% of decks · synergy 0.35

The Capitoline Triad's token-generation and sacrifice synergies make Altar of Dementia a natural fit, converting a steady stream of creature tokens into mill pressure and enabling the infinite loops that close games quickly.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Altar of Dementia does its best work — three opponents means three libraries to attack simultaneously, and free-activation sacrifice outlets are premium pieces in any combo-graveyard shell. In Legacy, it sees fringe play in reanimator strategies that want to self-mill cheaply, though the format's pace and disruption density limit its impact. Vintage is technically legal but the card is too slow and narrow to compete with the format's raw power. Altar of Dementia is not legal in Pioneer, Standard, or Pauper, which keeps its demand squarely Commander-driven.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

8,362 decks
Pitiless PlundererGravecrawlerAltar of Dementia

Pitiless PlundererGravecrawlerAltar of Dementia

Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite mill; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite self-mill; Infinite storm count; Infinite Treasure tokens; Infinite colored mana; Infinite colorless mana; Infinite creature tokens

View on Commander Spellbook ↗
7,817 decks
The Great HengeAltar of Dementia

The Great HengeAltar of Dementia

Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite death triggers; Infinite mill; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite self-mill; Infinite card draw; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite mill; Near-infinite death triggers; Near-infinite sacrifice triggers

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

Altar of Dementia is difficult to replace on a budget because the combination of zero activation cost and mill-as-damage is nearly unique — most free sac outlets like Viscera Seer or Carrion Feeder don't threaten opponents directly. If the mill win condition isn't essential, Viscera Seer costs under $1 and handles the loop-closing role adequately; if you want any mill pressure, Grinding Station comes closest for around $3, though tapping as an activation introduces timing constraints that Altar of Dementia avoids entirely.

Price Context

Current price

$20.03 premium tier

At $20.03, Altar of Dementia sits firmly in the premium tier for a non-mythic artifact, driven entirely by Commander demand as a near-universal combo piece. It's a stable hold — it goes in too many high-synergy lists across too many archetypes to see meaningful price erosion without a reprint.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.