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Burnt Offering

Instant

As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Add X mana in any combination of {B} and/or {R}, where X is the sacrificed creature's mana value.

CMC
1
Mana cost
{B}
Color identity
BR
Rarity
common
Set
Ice Age
Price
$2.12
EDHREC rank
#3148
Buy on TCGplayer
Burnt Offering card art
Burnt Offering converts a creature's mana value directly into black or red mana at instant speed — sacrifice a six-drop and you're floating six mana on the spot. The cost is real: you're down a creature and the spell does nothing without one, so it belongs in decks engineered to profit from that sacrifice, not decks that just happen to run creatures. Saw in Half plus Burnt Offering is a clean example of the ceiling, and Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver builds entire engines around exactly this kind of exchange.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Dargo, the ShipwreckerTymna the Weaver

Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver

94.5% of decks · synergy 0.92

Burnt Offering is a core piece here because sacrificing creatures to reduce Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver's cost and then cashing those same creatures for mana creates a self-reinforcing loop that can storm off in a single turn.

02
Rakdos, the Muscle

Rakdos, the Muscle

66.7% of decks · synergy 0.61

Rakdos, the Muscle wants bodies on the battlefield and doesn't mind losing them, so Burnt Offering serves double duty — fueling big mana plays while feeding the sacrifice triggers Rakdos rewards.

03
Imskir Iron-Eater

Imskir Iron-Eater

43.3% of decks · synergy 0.38

Imskir Iron-Eater scales on life loss from sacrificed artifacts and creatures, and Burnt Offering converts those sacrificed permanents into the mana needed to chain the next threat immediately.

04
Inalla, Archmage Ritualist

Inalla, Archmage Ritualist

27.8% of decks · synergy 0.26

Inalla, Archmage Ritualist generates token copies of Wizards that are already primed to disappear at end of turn, so Burnt Offering lets you cash those tokens for mana before they vanish rather than losing them for free.

05
Edea, Possessed Sorceress

Edea, Possessed Sorceress

23.9% of decks · synergy 0.22

Edea, Possessed Sorceress creates tokens whenever you cast instants or sorceries, so Burnt Offering both consumes an existing token and produces the mana to cast the next spell that generates another one.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Commander is where Burnt Offering actually gets used — high-CMC creatures are the norm, so the mana payoff is frequently enormous, and the instant speed matters when opponents try to interact with your board at the end of your turn. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but functionally a curiosity; the formats move too fast and too efficiently for a spell that requires a creature investment to generate mana that competes with rituals or fast mana artifacts. Pauper is the one non-Commander format worth noting: at common, Burnt Offering can slot into sacrifice-themed lists that already want to churn through creatures, though the payoff is narrower without the giant mana values Commander supplies. Oathbreaker mirrors Commander's logic at a smaller scale — still playable if your gameplan involves large creatures, less reliable otherwise.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

1,181 decks
Saw in HalfBurnt OfferingScholar of the Ages

Saw in HalfBurnt OfferingScholar of the Ages

Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite death triggers; Infinite storm count; Infinite red mana; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite black mana; Return all instant and sorcery cards from your graveyard to your hand

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$2.12 cheap tier

At $2.12, Burnt Offering sits at the high end of what you'd call cheap — it's not a bulk rare, but it's not a budget concern either for any deck that genuinely wants it. The price is stable because demand is narrow and specific; it won't spike without a breakout combo, and it won't crater because the decks running it are committed to it.

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Sources

Mentioned

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