Cruel Feeding
Instant
Strive — This spell costs 
more to cast for each target beyond the first.
Any number of target creatures each get +1/+0 and gain lifelink until end of turn. (Damage dealt by a creature with lifelink also causes its controller to gain that much life.)
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Journey into Nyx
- Price
- $0.05
- EDHREC rank
- #24429
Cruel Feeding gives a creature +3/+0, first strike, and lifelink until end of turn for one black mana — that's a massive combat swing for an instant. It's a niche role-player, not a staple, but in decks that win through combat or need a cheap lifelink burst, it overperforms its cost.
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 |
In Commander, Cruel Feeding earns its slot in aggressive black decks that win through combat — especially those with a single large threat that needs to trade up or survive a block. Pauper is where it sees the most structured play, enabling combat tricks and life-gain triggers at common rarity. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer, Cruel Feeding is too narrow; combat tricks at sorcery speed rarely make the cut, and instant-speed pump still competes with options that replace themselves or have broader utility. Vintage has no meaningful home for it. The card is legal everywhere except Standard, but realistically you're running it in Pauper or a specific Commander build — nowhere else.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.05 bulk tier
At $0.05, Cruel Feeding is deep bulk — you'll find it in a commons box before you'd bother ordering it. That price is stable by definition: there's no demand spike coming for a narrow combat trick, so it will sit at floor indefinitely.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.