Casualties of War
Sorcery
Choose one or more —
• Destroy target artifact.
• Destroy target creature.
• Destroy target enchantment.
• Destroy target land.
• Destroy target planeswalker.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BG
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Bloomburrow Commander
- Price
- $0.31
- EDHREC rank
- #1739
Casualties of War hits up to five permanent types at once — creature, artifact, enchantment, land, and planeswalker — for a single six-mana sorcery, a board-impact ceiling almost nothing else in Golgari matches. Commanders like Hazel of the Rootbloom that can copy or recur it turn one Casualties of War into a game-ending asymmetric wipe.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Hazel of the Rootbloom
Hazel of the Rootbloom copies instants and sorceries whenever a creature you control dies, and Casualties of War hitting five permanent types means a single copy can demolish everything an opponent has built — the payoff for Hazel's engine is rarely higher than this.
Sarulf, Realm Eater
Sarulf, Realm Eater grows on every opponent's permanent hitting the graveyard, and Casualties of War can dump enough permanents into those graveyards in one cast to immediately make Sarulf a lethal exile threat.
The Wise Mothman
The Wise Mothman puts rad counters on players whenever you cast spells that mill, and Casualties of War destroying multiple permanents at once accelerates board parity so Mothman's poison clock can close out a stalled game.
Lathril, Blade of the Elves
Lathril, Blade of the Elves demands the board be clear for her tap ability to matter, and Casualties of War's ability to surgically remove blockers, problem enchantments, and hate artifacts in one shot makes that window far easier to force open.
Teval, the Balanced Scale
Teval, the Balanced Scale cares about graveyard density and controlling what's on the battlefield, and Casualties of War's multi-permanent demolition feeds both halves of that equation efficiently.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Casualties of War earns its keep — six mana is reasonable in a format with abundant ramp, and the ability to answer a creature, an artifact, an enchantment, a land, and a planeswalker in a single spell routinely generates three-for-ones against the stacked boards multiplayer produces. In Legacy and Vintage it's too slow and too narrow relative to what those formats can do for six mana, and Pioneer's faster clocks mean you rarely survive to cast it with meaningful targets still available. Modern is similarly hostile to a six-mana sorcery that doesn't end the game immediately. Stick to Commander, where Casualties of War is a genuine overperformer rather than a feel-good bulk rare.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.31 bulk tier
At $0.31, Casualties of War is deep bulk — cheap enough to grab a playset without thinking about it. The price reflects its Commander-only relevance, so don't expect movement unless a high-profile copy or reprint effect pushes it into the spotlight.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.