Cathartic Pyre
Instant
Choose one —
• Cathartic Pyre deals 3 damage to target creature or planeswalker.
• Discard up to two cards, then draw that many cards.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander
- Price
- $0.33
- EDHREC rank
- #3990
Cathartic Pyre kills a creature or planeswalker outright, and if the target is too small to need the full damage, it turns the leftover into looting — discard two, draw two. Imodane, the Pyrohammer copies that damage to every opponent's face, so a two-mana removal spell becomes a two-mana removal spell that also pings the table.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Imodane, the Pyrohammer
Cathartic Pyre is an auto-include in Imodane, the Pyrohammer because Imodane redirects the spell's damage to each opponent — a clean kill on a small creature simultaneously deals that same chunk of damage around the table, and the looting mode feeds the spellslinger count that keeps Imodane's trigger live.
Feldon of the Third Path
Feldon of the Third Path wants creatures in the graveyard, and Cathartic Pyre's looting mode lets the deck pitch fatties it can't hard-cast while still handling a problematic permanent — removal and graveyard fuel on one card is exactly the kind of efficiency Feldon lists lean on.
Magar of the Magic Strings
Magar of the Magic Strings converts instants and sorceries in the graveyard into creature-copy attacks, so Cathartic Pyre goes from a cheap removal spell to a repeatable threat — the discard-two mode also helps bin copies of Pyre itself for Magar to recycle.
Rielle, the Everwise
Rielle, the Everwise draws a card for each discard trigger, which means Cathartic Pyre's looting mode replaces itself and then some under Rielle — it's a two-mana removal spell that draws you a net extra card whenever the target survives the damage threshold.
Auntie Ool, Cursewretch
Auntie Ool, Cursewretch cares about discarding cards to fuel her curses, and Cathartic Pyre delivers that discard while also answering a creature — two functions from one slot is exactly the kind of redundancy an Auntie Ool, Cursewretch list wants to maximize.
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 |
In Commander, Cathartic Pyre earns its slot in any red deck that wants removal and card selection from a single card — the looting mode is rarely dead because pitching a land for a fresh draw is always acceptable. In Modern and Pioneer it competes with more efficient one-mana options like Play with Fire, so it typically shows up only in dedicated discard-matters or graveyard shells that want the specific discard trigger rather than raw damage. Legacy and Vintage have enough broken one-drops that Cathartic Pyre rarely makes the cut outside of niche lists. Oathbreaker is the closest overlap to Commander's threat density, and the same discard-synergy commanders make it viable there too.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.33 bulk tier
At $0.33, Cathartic Pyre is bulk — buy a playset without thinking twice. Bulk dual-function commons and uncommons like this rarely spike unless they land in a dominant competitive list, so expect the price to stay in this range.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.