Curse of Thirst
Enchantment — Aura Curse
Enchant player
At the beginning of enchanted player's upkeep, this Aura deals damage to that player equal to the number of Curses attached to them.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Wizards Play Network 2012
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #10502
Curse of Thirst drains the enchanted player for one life per curse they carry — at its peak, that's a passive ten-plus damage per upkeep without attacking. Five mana is real, but in any dedicated curse shell, particularly under Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor, it closes games that would otherwise stall.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor
Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor recycles curses from the graveyard and passes them around the table, so Curse of Thirst's damage scales with every other enchantment you've stacked on a target — Lynde turns it from a one-curse drain into a lethal clock.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Curse of Thirst is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but its home is Commander and nowhere else. In 60-card formats it's simply too slow and too narrow — five mana for a conditional drain effect doesn't compete when faster, more reliable win conditions exist. In Commander, the multiplayer math changes everything: one player accumulating curses takes exponentially more damage per upkeep, and Curse of Thirst becomes a passive kill condition that demands an answer or wins by itself.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Current pricing data for Curse of Thirst isn't available in this listing, so check Scryfall or your preferred retailer for the latest number. It's a casual-only card with a narrow home, so it has historically stayed budget-friendly — expect it to be an easy pickup rather than a meaningful expense.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.