Archon of Cruelty
Creature — Archon
Flying
Whenever this creature enters or attacks, target opponent sacrifices a creature or planeswalker of their choice, discards a card, and loses 3 life. You draw a card and gain 3 life.
- CMC
- 8
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Modern Horizons 2
- Price
- $7.90
- EDHREC rank
- #1116
Archon of Cruelty hits the table and immediately drains each opponent for three life, forces three discards, and demands three sacrifices — all before it swings. Eight mana is a real cost, but commanders like Henzie "Toolbox" Torre can deploy it for as little as two mana with blitz, making that price tag largely academic.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Henzie "Toolbox" Torre
Henzie "Toolbox" Torre's blitz ability lets Archon of Cruelty enter for two generic mana and a life payment, firing the ETB trigger immediately and drawing a card when it dies — all the value, almost none of the eight-mana ask.
Sedris, the Traitor King
Sedris, the Traitor King reanimates Archon of Cruelty from the graveyard for three mana with unearth, replaying the brutal ETB trigger on curve and threatening to do it again if opponents can't exile it.
Satoru Umezawa
Satoru Umezawa lets you ninjutsu Archon of Cruelty into play, bypassing its eight-mana cost entirely and ambushing opponents with the ETB trigger mid-combat when they're least prepared to absorb the drain, sacrifice, and discard.
Akul the Unrepentant
Akul the Unrepentant's exploit synergies make Archon of Cruelty a recursive threat — sacrifice it to exploit another creature, let Akul's death triggers fire, then reanimate or recur it to lap the ETB effect again.
Hashaton, Scarab's Fist
Hashaton, Scarab's Fist rewards repeated ETB triggers, and Archon of Cruelty's enter-the-battlefield punishment — three damage, three life lost, three cards discarded, three permanents sacrificed across the table — is among the most punishing triggers available at any mana cost.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Archon of Cruelty earns its reputation: hitting three opponents simultaneously with the ETB effect means six life drained, six cards discarded, and three permanents sacrificed just by casting it once, and the density of reanimation and cost-reduction commanders makes eight mana a soft ceiling rather than a hard one. In Legacy and Vintage, Archon of Cruelty sees occasional reanimator play as a deterministic win condition — Reanimate or Entomb lines put it into play on turn one, and the ETB plus flying body closes games before opponents stabilize. Modern reanimator shells have used it similarly, though the format's speed and interaction density mean it requires dedicated protection to resolve. It's not legal in Pioneer, Standard, or Pauper, so outside of Commander its home is squarely in the graveyard-cheat decks of eternal formats.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Kokusho, the Evening Star offers a similar drain-on-death effect for five mana and costs well under a dollar, though it triggers on death rather than ETB and lacks the discard and sacrifice clauses that make Archon of Cruelty so comprehensive. Toxrill, the Corrosive and Agent of Treachery both apply ongoing pressure at similar mana costs for cheaper prices, but neither replicates the immediate, multi-axis punishment that makes Archon of Cruelty the premier reanimation target — if you need that specific combination of drain, discard, and sacrifice on a single ETB, there's no true budget replacement.
Price Context
Current price
$7.90 mid tier
At $7.90, Archon of Cruelty sits in the mid tier — expensive enough to feel like a deliberate include but cheap relative to its power level and demand across Legacy, Vintage, and Commander reanimator strategies. It's a stable card with broad multi-format appeal, so $7–9 is a reasonable long-term floor.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Henzie "Toolbox" Torre
- Sedris, the Traitor King
- Satoru Umezawa
- Akul the Unrepentant
- Hashaton, Scarab's Fist
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.