Cabal Patriarch
Legendary Creature — Human Wizard
, Sacrifice a creature: Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn., Exile a creature card from your graveyard: Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Odyssey
- Price
- $0.33
- EDHREC rank
- #25796
Cabal Patriarch threatens a three-ability removal engine that can lock down a board — but six mana to cast and two-plus-two to activate means you're sinking serious resources before it does anything. The floor is a 5/5 that eats a removal spell; the ceiling never quite justifies the investment when cheaper, faster threats exist.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Cabal Patriarch is a late-game threat in mono-black or black-heavy control decks that have already established mana dominance — it's not a card you build around, it's one you slot when you want a second or third finisher that doubles as targeted removal. In Legacy and Vintage, it has no realistic home; six mana for a creature that needs additional investment to affect the board is unplayable in formats where threats must answer themselves immediately at a much lower cost. Oathbreaker is the one fringe space where a dedicated black signatures-and-staples shell could theoretically support it, but even there the mana ask is steep.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.33 bulk tier
At $0.33, Cabal Patriarch is firmly bulk — you're paying for cardboard, not power. It won't appreciate; casual demand for a six-mana creature with expensive activations keeps the ceiling low.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.