Cabal Paladin
Creature — Human Knight
Whenever you cast a historic spell, this creature deals 2 damage to each opponent. (Artifacts, legendaries, and Sagas are historic.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Dominaria
- Price
- $0.13
- EDHREC rank
- #16514
Cabal Paladin punishes historic spells — artifacts, legendaries, sagas — with a 2-damage ping to each opponent, which in a four-player pod adds up faster than it looks. The cost is a four-mana 3/3 with no evasion, so it earns its seat only when you're casting enough historic spells to fire the trigger repeatedly — think Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh as a free legendary trigger, or Acererak the Archlich bouncing through dungeons and dealing chip damage every loop.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Acererak the Archlich
Acererak the Archlich bounces itself by design, and each recast is a legendary spell that fires Cabal Paladin — stack enough mana and the loop becomes a slow-burn win condition that drains the table without ever attacking.
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 |
Cabal Paladin is a Commander card through and through — the ping effect scales with player count, and the historic density needed to make it worthwhile is easiest to build around a single legendary commander who triggers it repeatedly. In Pauper it's legal but outclassed by more efficient threats at four mana, and historic is barely a mechanic in that format's card pool. Legacy, Vintage, and Modern have no interest in a 3/3 for four with no immediate impact. Commander is the only format where Cabal Paladin's incremental damage math actually closes games.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Rograkh, Son of RohgahhRakdos, Lord of RiotsAshnod's AltarCabal Paladin
Infinite colorless mana; Infinite damage; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite storm count
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Rograkh, Son of RohgahhRakdos, Lord of RiotsPhyrexian AltarCabal Paladin
Infinite colored mana; Infinite damage; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite storm count
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.13 bulk tier
At $0.13, Cabal Paladin is deep bulk — buy a dozen for the price of a pack sleeve. Bulk rares that see play only in niche Commander builds rarely climb, so treat it as a permanent pickup rather than anything to watch.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.