Death's-Head Buzzard
Creature — Bird
Flying
When this creature dies, all creatures get -1/-1 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Vintage Masters
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #21253
Death's-Head Buzzard kills every creature on the board when it dies — a board wipe stapled to a 2/1 flier for three mana. The cost is that it hits your own creatures too, so you run it in decks that either have nothing to lose or actively want that symmetry.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Maha, Its Feathers Night
Maha, Its Feathers Night cares about creatures dying en masse, and Death's-Head Buzzard delivers a full table wipe on demand — blocking, trading, or sacrificing it triggers the -1/-1 sweep that fuels Maha's gameplan without needing a dedicated wrath spell.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Death's-Head Buzzard earns its slot in sacrifice-based black decks that can engineer when and how it dies, turning a single creature into a one-sided board wipe when paired with indestructible or token-heavy strategies. Pauper is the other format where it sees real discussion — at common, a creature that doubles as a sweeper is structurally powerful, though the symmetric -1/-1 makes it hard to build around reliably. Legacy and Vintage have access to Death's-Head Buzzard but have no reason to touch it when faster and cleaner options exist at every point on the curve.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Death's-Head Buzzard isn't currently available, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for a live number. Given its narrow but genuine application in Commander sacrifice decks, it typically sits in bulk-to-low-value range — worth picking up as a cheap role-player rather than a financial priority.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.