Call for Blood
Instant — Arcane
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the sacrificed creature's power.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Betrayers of Kamigawa
- Price
- $0.05
- EDHREC rank
- #28227
Call for Blood destroys any creature unconditionally — no toughness floor, no protection clause — by sacrificing another creature you control as an additional cost. Five mana is steep for a single-target removal spell, but in sacrifice-matters decks that want the creature gone from the battlefield and a body in the graveyard simultaneously, the cost pays for itself.
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, Call for Blood is a role-player in sacrifice-themed black decks — not a staple, but a legitimate budget slot when you need unconditional removal that doubles as a sac outlet trigger. In Pauper, common-legal unconditional creature removal is scarce enough that it sees genuine consideration, though five mana is slow for the format's pace. Legacy and Vintage have access to so much efficient removal that Call for Blood doesn't compete, and it's absent from Pioneer and Standard entirely. Oathbreaker mirrors Commander's verdict: fine in a sacrifice shell, redundant elsewhere.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.05 bulk tier
At $0.05, Call for Blood is deep bulk — the kind of card you pull from a common box without thinking twice. Don't expect that price to move; unconditional removal at five mana has a low ceiling on demand outside of budget sacrifice builds.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.