Cao Cao, Lord of Wei
Legendary Creature — Human Soldier
: Target opponent discards two cards. Activate only during your turn, before attackers are declared.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Portal Three Kingdoms
- Price
- $46.47
- EDHREC rank
- #21704
Cao Cao, Lord of Wei hits every opponent's hand at once — tap him, and each player discards two cards, which at a four-player table is a eight-card swing before combat even matters. The cost is that he's a five-mana 3/3 who does nothing the turn he arrives and folds to any instant-speed removal before you untap.
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 |
Commander is where Cao Cao, Lord of Wei actually belongs — multiplayer magnifies the activated ability from a one-for-two into a three-for-six each full rotation, and the political weight of stripping three hands simultaneously warrants the five-mana investment. In Legacy and Vintage he's technically legal but competes against formats full of free interaction, fast mana, and zero-mana cantrips that refill hands before you untap; the tap-to-activate restriction is a critical liability there. Oathbreaker could support him as a signature spell payoff in a wheel-and-discard shell, but he's outclassed by cheaper, faster hand disruption at that power level.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Liliana's Specter and Rotting Rats both force discard across the table for under $1 and dodge the tap-to-activate vulnerability that makes Cao Cao, Lord of Wei a lightning rod — the trade-off is that they're one-shot triggers rather than a repeatable engine you can fire every turn cycle. If the goal is sustained hand control rather than a single burst, Oppression runs closer to $3 and strips cards continuously without requiring a creature to survive.
Price Context
Current price
$46.47 premium tier
At $46.47, Cao Cao, Lord of Wei sits firmly in the premium tier, driven almost entirely by its Portal Three Kingdoms print run — one of the smallest in Magic's history. The price reflects scarcity more than raw power, so it holds value as a collectible but is difficult to justify on gameplay merit alone at that number.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.