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Culling the Weak

Instant

As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Add {B}{B}{B}{B}.

CMC
1
Mana cost
{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
rare
Set
Secret Lair Drop
Price
$26.05
EDHREC rank
#587
Buy on TCGplayer
Culling the Weak card art
Culling the Weak turns any creature into four black mana the instant it resolves — a ritual that scales with a free commander like Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh // Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, where the sacrifice cost is effectively zero. Stack it with Underworld Breach and the math gets lethal fast.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Rograkh, Son of RohgahhSilas Renn, Seeker Adept

Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh // Silas Renn, Seeker Adept

92.4% of decks · synergy 0.87

Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh // Silas Renn, Seeker Adept enters the battlefield for free, making Culling the Weak a no-downside ritual that converts a 0/1 token into four black mana on turn one — the engine this deck needs to storm off before the table can answer.

02
Dargo, the ShipwreckerTymna the Weaver

Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver

90.1% of decks · synergy 0.86

Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver wants cheap creatures sacrificed to reduce Dargo's cost, and Culling the Weak does double duty: it eats the fodder and generates the black mana to cast whatever comes next.

03
Rakdos, the Muscle

Rakdos, the Muscle

50.3% of decks · synergy 0.44

Rakdos, the Muscle rewards sacrificing creatures already in play, and Culling the Weak turns those mandatory sacrifices into mana acceleration rather than pure tempo loss.

04
Tevesh Szat, Doom of FoolsThrasios, Triton Hero

Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools // Thrasios, Triton Hero

44.4% of decks · synergy 0.42

Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools // Thrasios, Triton Hero generates tokens that beg to be converted into resources, and Culling the Weak transforms that token production directly into the mana needed to activate Thrasios and dig deeper.

05
Silverquill, the Disputant

Silverquill, the Disputant

42.3% of decks · synergy 0.38

Silverquill, the Disputant builds around cheap creatures and incremental advantage, and Culling the Weak fits as a burst-mana piece that cashes in the smallest bodies for the black mana to keep the chain moving.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern not legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper legal
oathbreaker legal

Culling the Weak is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but its real home is cEDH — specifically storm and fast-mana combo shells that need to generate black mana before the table stabilizes. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically playable but rarely sees competitive slots, since those formats have access to faster, less conditional options. Pauper legality is a curiosity; the common-level creature pools there don't generate the free or near-free sacrifice targets that make Culling the Weak broken. In Commander it's almost exclusively a cEDH card — the sacrifice cost is irrelevant when your commander enters for free, and four black mana on turn one or two frequently ends the game.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

There's no true budget replacement for Culling the Weak when the sacrifice target is free — that's the entire point. Dark Ritual is the honest substitute: it produces the same three black mana without requiring a creature, costs a fraction of the price, and slots into any black deck rather than only ones running expendable bodies. If the goal is specifically to convert a creature into mana, Sacrifice is a functional downgrade at common rarity — it only adds two black mana rather than four, which matters enormously in the cEDH contexts where Culling the Weak earns its slot.

Price Context

Current price

$26.05 premium tier

At $26.05, Culling the Weak sits in premium ritual territory — justified only in cEDH shells where the free-sacrifice condition is reliably met. It holds value precisely because the card is irreplaceable in that niche; no other ritual gives four black mana for a single black investment.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.