Arvad the Cursed
Legendary Creature — Vampire Knight
Deathtouch, lifelink
Other legendary creatures you control get +2/+2.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BW
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Dominaria Promos
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #4806
Arvad the Cursed puts a +2/+2 anthem on every legendary creature you control — a meaningful swing in a format where commanders and legendary payoffs dominate boards. Five mana for a 3/3 with deathtouch and lifelink is the cost, and it's a fair one: Ardbert, Warrior of Darkness decks run Arvad in nearly three out of four lists because the buff and the creature type both matter.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Ardbert, Warrior of Darkness
Ardbert, Warrior of Darkness cares deeply about stacking power on legendary creatures, and Arvad the Cursed delivers a blanket +2/+2 that turns every legendary in play into a more threatening attacker — the 72% inclusion rate reflects how cleanly Arvad slots into that game plan.
Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge
Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge wants a dense legendary creature base to trigger its card draw, and Arvad the Cursed layers a pump effect on top of that density, so the cards Shanid draws are already bigger threats when they hit the board.
Kethis, the Hidden Hand
Kethis, the Hidden Hand fuels graveyard recursion off legendary permanents, and Arvad the Cursed is both a recursive target and a live anthem that makes the board state progressively more dangerous as legends keep coming back.
Dihada, Binder of Wills
Dihada, Binder of Wills generates legendary creatures and protects them with indestructible, and Arvad the Cursed turns that protected legendary army into a clock — every token Dihada makes is two points bigger with Arvad on the field.
Jodah, the Unifier
Jodah, the Unifier cascades through a legendary creature chain, and Arvad the Cursed stacks a static buff on each creature that resolves off that chain, making the already-snowballing Jodah board incrementally harder to race.
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 |
Commander is where Arvad the Cursed actually earns its slot — legendary-tribal strategies are a real archetype, and a blanket +2/+2 anthem that also brings deathtouch and lifelink on a five-mana body is a legitimate role-player in those shells. In Modern and Legacy, five mana for a lord with no immediate impact on the board is too slow for any competitive context, and the legendary synergy angle has no meaningful home in those formats. Pioneer is legal but equally uninterested — there's no legendary-tribal shell there that wants a five-mana anthem without faster payoffs. Arvad the Cursed is a Commander card through and through; don't let the cross-format legality create false expectations.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Arvad the Cursed isn't available in this snapshot, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for current buylist and market prices. Given its narrow legendary-tribal niche and single-printing history, it tends to sit in budget range — worth picking up if you're building the archetype, but don't expect it to be hard to find.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.