Chancellor of the Dross
Creature — Phyrexian Vampire
You may reveal this card from your opening hand. If you do, at the beginning of the first upkeep, each opponent loses 3 life, then you gain life equal to the life lost this way.
Flying, lifelink
- CMC
- 7
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- New Phyrexia
- Price
- $0.87
- EDHREC rank
- #16860
Chancellor of the Dross drains each opponent for 3 life the turn it's in your opening hand — before you've spent a single mana — and then lands as a 6/6 flying lifelinker for seven. The body is fine for the cost, but you're running Chancellor of the Dross because that free trigger can swing races and punish aggressive tables before the game's first spell resolves.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Chancellor of the Dross is a fringe inclusion: the opening-hand trigger scales with opponent count, potentially draining 9 life at a four-player table before turn one, which is a real edge in slower pods or life-total-matters builds. The seven-mana body is hard to justify in a format full of cheaper threats unless you're in a reanimator shell that never intends to cast it. In Legacy and Vintage, the card sees essentially no play — the trigger is cute but not reliable enough to build around, and seven mana is uncastable in those formats. Modern has similarly no interest; the trigger requires a hand reveal and a specific opening draw, making it too inconsistent for competitive construction.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.87 bulk tier
At $0.87, Chancellor of the Dross is firmly bulk — appropriate for a card with narrow applications and no competitive demand. The price is unlikely to move meaningfully unless a Commander build emerges that makes the opening trigger a consistent game plan rather than an occasional bonus.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.