Ankh of Mishra
Artifact
Whenever a land enters, this artifact deals 2 damage to that land's controller.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Classic Sixth Edition
- Price
- $8.69
- EDHREC rank
- #4973
Ankh of Mishra punishes every land drop at the table — two damage per land played, starting the moment it hits the board for two mana. It's one of the most efficient group-slug pieces in Commander, and Zo-Zu the Punisher runs it in nearly 90% of decks for good reason.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Zo-Zu the Punisher
Zo-Zu the Punisher already deals 2 damage whenever a land enters, and Ankh of Mishra stacks that punishment so each land drop costs an opponent 4 life — the redundancy is the engine.
Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence
Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence grows from damage dealt to her controller, and Ankh of Mishra turns every opponent's land drop into a free counter trigger when that damage redirects.
Darien, King of Kjeldor
Darien, King of Kjeldor converts damage dealt to his controller into Soldier tokens, so Ankh of Mishra hitting you on your own land drops becomes a resource rather than a punishment.
Mogis, God of Slaughter
Mogis, God of Slaughter runs a slow death-by-a-thousand-cuts game plan, and Ankh of Mishra adds a persistent damage layer that stacks on top of the forced sacrifice or life loss each upkeep.
Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls
Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls draws cards whenever opponents lose life outside their turn, and Ankh of Mishra fires on every land drop opponents make — including during their own main phases — fueling that draw engine continuously.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Ankh of Mishra earns its keep: four players means four land drops per round, so the damage clock runs fast without you spending any additional resources. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but rarely played — those formats move too fast and too efficiently for a passive two-damage ping to matter before the game ends. Oathbreaker shares Commander's multiplayer math and the same slug strategies port over cleanly. Outside of those formats, Ankh of Mishra simply isn't legal, so Commander remains its natural and dominant home.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Burning Earth punishes nonbasic land plays specifically rather than all lands, which lines up better against polished mana bases but whiffs against mono-color decks running basics. Manabarbs is a closer functional replacement — it deals 1 damage per mana spent rather than per land played, which can hit harder against ramp-heavy opponents but also punishes you symmetrically in ways Ankh of Mishra typically doesn't.
Price Context
Current price
$8.69 mid tier
At $8.69, Ankh of Mishra sits in the mid tier — not a budget pickup, but not a barrier to building the deck either. Its long print history keeps the price from climbing much higher, so this is a stable buy rather than a speculative one.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.