Is Archfiend of the Dross good in Commander?

Archfiend of the Dross

Creature — Phyrexian Demon

Flying
This creature enters with four oil counters on it.
At the beginning of your upkeep, remove an oil counter from this creature. Then if it has no oil counters on it, you lose the game.
Whenever a creature an opponent controls dies, its controller loses 2 life.

CMC: 4
Mana cost
Color identity: B
Rarity: rare
Set: Phyrexia: All Will Be One
Price: —
EDHREC rank: #6672

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Archfiend of the Dross is a 9/9 flying lifelink demon for four mana — one of the most absurdly statted creatures at that cost — but it comes loaded with oil counters that tick down each upkeep, and when they're gone, you lose the game. The entire reason to run it is to give the demon away before that clock expires, which is exactly what Blim, Comedic Genius and Exchange of Words enable.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

Blim, Comedic Genius

70.3% of decks · synergy 0.69

Blim, Comedic Genius is the natural home: Blim's combat trigger donates permanents to opponents, so you attack with Blim, pass Archfiend of the Dross to an opponent, and their upkeep starts draining the oil counters — killing them instead of you.

Jon Irenicus, Shattered One

66.9% of decks · synergy 0.65

Jon Irenicus, Shattered One donates creatures as a core mechanic, making Archfiend of the Dross a premier threat: hand it to an opponent and the four-turn clock runs on their side of the table while you keep the card advantage Jon generates.

Abigale, Eloquent First-Year

33.3% of decks · synergy 0.33

Abigale, Eloquent First-Year builds around swapping permanents and redirecting drawbacks, so Archfiend of the Dross fits cleanly as a high-upside gift — a massive body you'd never want to keep but are happy to pass along.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

Format	Verdict
commander	legal
legacy	legal
modern	legal
pioneer	legal
standard	not legal
vintage	legal
pauper	not legal
oathbreaker	legal

In Commander, Archfiend of the Dross is entirely a combo and donation piece — the self-kill clause is too dangerous to ignore in a 40-life multiplayer format, so it only belongs in decks that plan to offload it immediately. In competitive Modern and Pioneer, a four-mana 9/9 is worth evaluating in reanimator or flicker shells that circumvent or reset the oil-counter clause, though it hasn't broken through as a format staple. Legacy and Vintage have enough fast interaction that the four-mana investment rarely makes sense outside of niche brews. Oathbreaker mirrors the Commander dynamic at a smaller scale — donation commanders unlock the same game plan.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

2,973 decks