Burn the Accursed
Instant
Burn the Accursed deals 5 damage to target creature and 2 damage to that creature's controller. If that creature would die this turn, exile it instead.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
- Price
- $0.08
- EDHREC rank
- #19880
Burn the Accursed deals 4 damage to a creature and 2 to its controller if it was a Zombie — solid rate for a single red mana at instant speed. Outside of dedicated Zombie decks, the conditional clause rarely fires, and a four-mana instant that just deals 4 damage to a creature is too slow for most formats.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Burn the Accursed is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but it earns a slot almost exclusively in Commander Zombie decks where the bonus damage is nearly guaranteed. In Pauper it's technically playable, but four mana at instant speed competes with far more efficient red removal. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer, the rate is simply uncompetitive — those formats have one- and two-mana spells that do more with less. Commander is the only home where Burn the Accursed does real work, and even there it's a role-player rather than a staple.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.08 bulk tier
At $0.08, Burn the Accursed sits firmly in bulk territory — the kind of card you pull from a common box rather than buy. That price is stable by default; there's no pressure pushing it up or down, and it will stay near-free as long as it remains a niche Zombie-deck inclusion.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.