Coat with Venom
Instant
Target creature gets +1/+2 and gains deathtouch until end of turn. (Any amount of damage it deals to a creature is enough to destroy it.)
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Explorers of Ixalan
- Price
- $0.07
- EDHREC rank
- #19511
Coat with Venom gives a creature deathtouch until end of turn for a single black mana — instant speed, combat trick, done. It's narrow enough that only dedicated deathtouch-synergy decks want it, but in those shells it pulls real weight.
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 |
Coat with Venom is legal everywhere except Standard, but it's a Commander card at heart — the format's longer games and creature-combat focus give deathtouch tricks the most room to matter. In Pauper it's theoretically playable as a combat trick in black aggro, but one-mana instants compete hard with removal that just kills the blocker outright. Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer have no interest: the effect doesn't trade up efficiently enough against the threats those formats present. Stick to Commander, and even there only bring it if your gameplan actively rewards deathtouch.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.07 bulk tier
At $0.07, Coat with Venom is pure bulk — the kind of card you pull from a common box without thinking twice. It won't appreciate; the casual demand that keeps it in print is exactly what keeps the price at the floor.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.