Blood of the Martyr
Instant
Until end of turn, if damage would be dealt to any creature, you may have that damage dealt to you instead.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Chronicles Foreign Black Border
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #17891
Blood of the Martyr redirects all damage dealt to your creatures to you instead for the turn — a one-mana instant that turns a board wipe into a life payment rather than a board loss. In any deck that converts life loss into fuel, that cost is the point, not the downside.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Darien, King of Kjeldor
Darien, King of Kjeldor triggers off damage dealt to you, so Blood of the Martyr transforms every spell targeting your creatures into a token-generation event — a sweeper aimed at your board becomes a flood of Soldiers instead of a reset.
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 |
Blood of the Martyr is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, and that's where the conversation begins and ends — it's not available in Modern, Pioneer, Standard, or Pauper. In Commander it has a real home in white lifegain and damage-redirection strategies, particularly alongside commanders like Darien, King of Kjeldor who want to take damage on purpose. Legacy and Vintage lists have no meaningful reason to run it given the formats' power ceilings, so competitive interest there is essentially zero. Commander is the only format where Blood of the Martyr does something nobody else does as cheaply.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data isn't available for Blood of the Martyr right now, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the current spread. It's an older card with niche but dedicated demand — copies show up in roughly 46% of Darien, King of Kjeldor decks, which is a real adoption rate for something this specialized.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.