Cho-Arrim Alchemist
Creature — Human Spellshaper
, 
, Discard a card: The next time a source of your choice would deal damage to you this turn, prevent that damage. You gain life equal to the damage prevented this way.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Mercadian Masques
- Price
- $0.46
- EDHREC rank
- #26436
Cho-Arrim Alchemist redirects any life-loss effect — most famously Wheel of Misfortune — to an opponent of your choice, turning a card that was already threatening to become a political kill shot. The cost is real: three white mana and sacrificing a creature means you need a token or expendable body on board, but the payoff is a targeted, instant-speed life drain that scales with however much damage the source was dealing.
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 |
Cho-Arrim Alchemist is a Commander card through and through — the political dimension of choosing which opponent eats the redirected damage, and the density of wheel effects in the format, give it a natural home that Legacy and Vintage simply don't provide. In those older formats it's technically legal but the competitive ecosystem has no interest in a three-mana white creature with a narrow activated ability. Commander is where the card earns its slot, specifically in white-heavy decks that run wheels or sit across from opponents who do.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.46 bulk tier
At $0.46, Cho-Arrim Alchemist is bulk — easy to pick up as a one-of without any budget consideration. It's a narrow card with a small but genuine audience, so don't expect the price to move meaningfully in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.