Dark Deal
Sorcery
Each player discards all the cards in their hand, then draws that many cards minus one.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Pioneer Masters
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #1460
Dark Deal makes every opponent discard their hand and draw one fewer card than they pitched, then you refill — net card disadvantage for the table, net chaos for anyone punishing discards. With Tergrid, God of Fright on the battlefield, every permanent those opponents pitch lands under your control, turning a three-mana sorcery into a game-ending theft engine.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Tergrid, God of Fright
Dark Deal is one of the best cards in a Tergrid, God of Fright deck — forcing all opponents to discard their hands means every nonland permanent they pitch moves to your side of the board, often ending the game on the spot.
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse taxes opponents for every card drawn, so Dark Deal's forced draw-one triggers drain on each opponent simultaneously while they're already down cards from the discard — life loss stacks fast.
Nekusar, the Mindrazer
Nekusar, the Mindrazer pings opponents for each card drawn, and Dark Deal forces the whole table to draw, turning one sorcery into a round of simultaneous damage that scales brutally in four-player pods.
Tinybones, Trinket Thief
Tinybones, Trinket Thief draws a card and drains two life at end of turn if an opponent discarded this turn — Dark Deal hits every opponent at once, guaranteeing that trigger and threatening the activated kill ability immediately.
Tinybones, Bauble Burglar
Dark Deal is exactly the mass-discard engine Tinybones, Bauble Burglar wants, stripping hands and loading opponents' graveyards to fuel exile-based value and the commander's activated abilities.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Dark Deal's real home is Commander, where three or four opponents multiplying out the discard and the forced draw makes it vastly more efficient than in any 1v1 context. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer it's legal but effectively unplayed — three mana at sorcery speed to trade hands is too slow and too symmetrical without a dedicated payoff like Tergrid, God of Fright sitting in play. Vintage has better wheels and better discard; Dark Deal doesn't compete there either. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander format where it can shine, since the commander zone makes assembling a discard payoff consistent enough to justify it.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data isn't currently available for Dark Deal, so check Scryfall or your preferred retailer for the current market rate. Given that it's a three-mana sorcery with a narrow but powerful niche, it has historically landed in the budget-to-mid range — worth picking up if you're building any commander that rewards mass discard.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.