Cabal Initiate
Creature — Human Warlock
Discard a card: This creature gains lifelink until end of turn.
Threshold — This creature gets +1/+2 as long as there are seven or more cards in your graveyard.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Jumpstart: Historic Horizons
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #16439
Cabal Initiate is a one-mana discard outlet that grows itself — every time you pitch a card, it gets a +1/+1 counter, which matters in decks that want both a reliable discard engine and a body that scales. The cost is card disadvantage by design, so it earns its slot only when your deck converts discards into value, the way Lich's Mastery turns every discard into a life payment that then triggers a draw.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Cabal Initiate is a cheap, repeatable discard outlet for madness, reanimator, and graveyard-value shells — the kind of role that's easy to overlook but miserable to not have when you need it. In Pauper, the common-legal discard outlet slot is genuinely contested, and Cabal Initiate competes on rate as a creature that doesn't just disappear after one use. Legacy and Vintage have faster and more redundant options, so Cabal Initiate rarely makes the cut there. It's not legal in Pioneer or Standard, which narrows its competitive footprint considerably.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Lich's MasteryFeast of SanityDreadCabal Initiate
Infinite damage; Infinite draw triggers; Infinite lifegain; Infinite lifegain triggers; Infinite rummaging; Infinite self-discard triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Cabal Initiate isn't currently available, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the latest. As a common with narrow competitive demand, it typically sits at bulk prices and is worth picking up casually rather than targeting as a priority purchase.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Lich's Mastery
- Feast of Sanity
- Dread
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.