Cruel Somnophage // Can't Wake Up
Creature — Nightmare // Sorcery — Adventure
Cruel Somnophage's power and toughness are each equal to the number of creature cards in all graveyards.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Wilds of Eldraine Promos
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #4719
Cruel Somnophage // Can't Wake Up is a self-growing mill threat that gets larger every turn as graveyards fill — in a dedicated mill deck it routinely becomes a 6/6 or bigger without any additional investment. The cost is that it does nothing the turn it enters and asks you to already be running a graveyard-filling strategy, which means it's a role-player, not a standalone.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Phenax, God of Deception
Phenax, God of Deception mills equal to a creature's toughness, and Cruel Somnophage // Can't Wake Up grows its toughness every turn — meaning each activation mills more than the last, creating a compounding engine that rewards leaving it on board.
The Ancient One
The Ancient One cares about having nightmare creatures and large power counts, and Cruel Somnophage // Can't Wake Up checks both boxes: it's a Nightmare that scales up fast in a deck already milling and filling graveyards.
Lord Xander, the Collector
Lord Xander, the Collector attacks opponents' hands and libraries, and Cruel Somnophage // Can't Wake Up slots into that attrition gameplan by applying consistent mill pressure while growing into a legitimate combat threat.
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind benefits from opponents' creatures ending up in graveyards, and Cruel Somnophage // Can't Wake Up mills proactively to stock those graveyards while doubling as a clock that gets harder to ignore each turn.
The Mimeoplasm
The Mimeoplasm wants large creatures in graveyards to copy or absorb counters from, and Cruel Somnophage // Can't Wake Up is a mill engine that eventually becomes one of the biggest creatures in any graveyard, making it a target worth reanimating or templating.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Cruel Somnophage // Can't Wake Up does its best work — four players mean four graveyards filling simultaneously, and the Somnophage scales off all of them, hitting absurd sizes in a dedicated mill shell by the mid-game. In 60-card formats like Modern and Pioneer, it's a fringe consideration in dedicated mill decks, but those formats demand faster clocks and more consistent pressure than a creature that asks to be kept alive over multiple turns. Legacy and Vintage have enough velocity that Cruel Somnophage // Can't Wake Up rarely makes the cut over cheaper, more immediately impactful options. Standard is the one 60-card environment where it could see play if a mill-adjacent archetype exists in the format at the time.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Cruel Somnophage // Can't Wake Up isn't currently available, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the latest figure before buying. Given its narrow home in mill-specific Commander builds, it's unlikely to command a premium — but inclusion in over 8,600 Phenax decks suggests steady demand worth confirming before you assume it's bulk.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.