Bond of Agony
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast this spell, pay X life.
Each other player loses X life.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Dissension
- Price
- $1.52
- EDHREC rank
- #14914
Bond of Agony drains every opponent simultaneously for X life, where X is the life you pay — in a 40-life Commander game, that ceiling is enormous. The cost is literal: you're trading your own life total for damage, which means it needs a life-gain engine or a near-lethal setup to close games rather than just accelerate your own death.
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 |
In Commander, Bond of Agony hits all three opponents at once, which multiplies its effective damage output by three and makes large X payments legitimately game-ending — that's the format where it belongs. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but wholly absent from competitive play; one-for-one damage spells that cost life don't compete with the cantrips and fast mana those formats demand. Modern is the same story: the card sees no play, and the life payment is punishing in a format where opponents can close games in four turns.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.52 cheap tier
At $1.52, Bond of Agony sits in the cheap tier — low enough that the cost is never the reason to skip it. Demand is narrow enough that the price is unlikely to climb absent a high-profile Commander reprint or breakout combo discovery, so buy it when you need it and don't overthink it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.