Chill of the Grave
Instant
This spell costs 
less to cast if you control a Zombie.
Tap target creature. It doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
Draw a card.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Innistrad: Double Feature
- Price
- $0.21
- EDHREC rank
- #18503
Chill of the Grave taps a creature and puts a +1/+1 counter on a target creature you control — relevant board impact for two mana at instant speed. Outside of dedicated Geralf, the Fleshwright builds that care about tapping creatures for value, it's too low-impact for most lists.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Geralf, the Fleshwright
Geralf, the Fleshwright triggers off creatures being tapped, so Chill of the Grave pulls double duty — it taps an opponent's blocker or attacker while simultaneously fueling Geralf's ability to create Zombie tokens.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Chill of the Grave is a Commander card through and through — the tap-and-counter effect is too slow and too low-impact to see serious play in competitive formats like Legacy, Modern, or Pioneer, where a two-mana instant needs to do something immediately threatening. In Pauper it's legal but irrelevant; nothing in the format's creature-based strategies wants this over a removal spell or a cantrip. Commander is the only context where Chill of the Grave earns a slot, and even there it's narrowly scoped to commanders that reward tapping creatures or stacking counters.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.21 bulk tier
At $0.21, Chill of the Grave sits firmly in bulk territory — you're paying almost nothing for a very narrow card. Bulk commons and uncommons with this level of format restriction don't appreciate, so there's no reason to stock up beyond what you need.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.