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Bontu's Monument

Legendary Artifact

Black creature spells you cast cost {1} less to cast.
Whenever you cast a creature spell, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{3}
Color identity
C
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Aetherdrift Commander
Price
$4.24
EDHREC rank
#664
Buy on TCGplayer
Bontu's Monument card art
Bontu's Monument drains an opponent for 1 every time you cast a creature spell — in any deck flooding the board with small black creatures, that passive damage stacks into a legitimate win condition before anyone sees it coming. The three-mana cost is low enough that Warren Soultrader decks slam it turn two off a Sol Ring and Temmet, Naktamun's Will lists run it as both a cost reducer and a life-drain engine that scales with every token cast.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Temmet, Naktamun's Will

Temmet, Naktamun's Will

63.8% of decks · synergy 0.61

Temmet, Naktamun's Will triggers Bontu's Monument on every creature cast, and Temmet's strategy of generating a constant stream of creatures means the drain adds up fast — combine that with the generic black creature cost reduction and you're fueling an engine that kills tables without ever attacking.

02
Acererak the Archlich

Acererak the Archlich

84.7% of decks · synergy 0.56

Acererak the Archlich re-casts itself repeatedly as dungeons complete, and Bontu's Monument turns each re-cast into free life drain — it's one of the cleanest damage vectors in a deck that otherwise wins through dungeon loops.

03
Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm

Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm

65.5% of decks · synergy 0.37

Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm floods the board with Rats, and Bontu's Monument converts every one of those casts into chip damage while also reducing their cost — the Monument is doing double duty in a deck that wants to cast as many creatures per turn as possible.

04
Marrow-Gnawer

Marrow-Gnawer

64.0% of decks · synergy 0.36

Marrow-Gnawer generates Rats at explosive speed, and Bontu's Monument taxes life totals with every token and creature cast in the chain — at 64% inclusion across over 13,000 decks, it's a near-staple for good reason.

05
Gev, Scaled Scorch

Gev, Scaled Scorch

36.4% of decks · synergy 0.33

Gev, Scaled Scorch wants a wide board of small creatures doing incremental damage, and Bontu's Monument supplements that plan by draining on the cast step before creatures even enter combat — the synergy is direct and requires zero setup.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Bontu's Monument earns its reputation: creature-heavy black strategies — Rats, Zombies, token floods — turn the passive drain into a clock that scales across three opponents simultaneously. In Modern and Pioneer, it sees fringe play in dedicated creature-storm shells, but the three-mana artifact investment is hard to justify in formats where games end faster and sorcery-speed drain rarely closes things out. Legacy has the raw power to combo with Bontu's Monument, but faster engines crowd it out at that level. Oathbreaker is a reasonable home given the compressed game length and the overlap with Planeswalker-adjacent creature strategies. Bottom line: build around it in Commander, treat it as a niche option everywhere else.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

2,039 decks
Bontu's MonumentOathsworn VampirePhyrexian Altar

Bontu's MonumentOathsworn VampirePhyrexian Altar

Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite lifegain; Infinite lifegain triggers; Infinite lifeloss; Infinite LTB; Infinite storm count

View on Commander Spellbook ↗
1,094 decks
Acererak the ArchlichAyara, First of LocthwainBontu's MonumentK'rrik, Son of YawgmothHeartless Summoning

Acererak the ArchlichAyara, First of LocthwainBontu's MonumentK'rrik, Son of YawgmothHeartless Summoning

Infinite card draw; Infinite draw triggers; Near-infinite +1/+1 counters; Near-infinite colored mana; Near-infinite creature tokens; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite lifegain; Near-infinite lifegain triggers; Near-infinite lifeloss; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite storm count; Near-infinite Treasure tokens; Near-infinite ventures into the dungeon

View on Commander Spellbook ↗
998 decks
Acererak the ArchlichCarnival of SoulsUrza's IncubatorBontu's Monument

Acererak the ArchlichCarnival of SoulsUrza's IncubatorBontu's Monument

Infinite card draw; Infinite draw triggers; Near-infinite +1/+1 counters; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite Treasure tokens; Near-infinite colored mana; Near-infinite creature tokens; Near-infinite lifegain; Near-infinite lifegain triggers; Near-infinite lifeloss; Near-infinite ventures into the dungeon; Near-infinite storm count

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$4.24 cheap tier

At $4.24, Bontu's Monument sits at the high end of budget staples but is still a clear buy for any black creature deck that qualifies. It's a three-year-old reprint target with consistent demand across multiple Commander archetypes, so this price is likely its floor rather than a spike.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.