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Death's Shadow

Creature — Avatar

This creature gets -X/-X, where X is your life total.

CMC
1
Mana cost
{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
rare
Set
Secret Lair Promo
Price
$5.34
EDHREC rank
#8327
Buy on TCGplayer
Death's Shadow card art
Death's Shadow is a one-mana 13/13 in the right shell — the catch is that it only grows when your life total shrinks, which means it asks your deck to engineer that condition deliberately. In Xu-Ifit, Osteoharmonist lists, Cloudstone Curio turns that life-loss symmetry into a recursive engine, making Death's Shadow less a liability and more a finisher that rewards the deck's own self-damage gameplan.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Xu-Ifit, Osteoharmonist

Xu-Ifit, Osteoharmonist

84.9% of decks · synergy 0.84

Xu-Ifit, Osteoharmonist runs Death's Shadow because the commander's self-damage engine naturally drops your life total into the range where a 10/10 or larger lands on turn two or three — and Cloudstone Curio loops let you exploit the growing stat line repeatedly. The 85% inclusion rate is essentially a signal that the card is close to mandatory here.

02
Venom, Deadly Devourer

Venom, Deadly Devourer

66.5% of decks · synergy 0.66

Venom, Deadly Devourer pairs with Death's Shadow by leveraging the poison and life-loss mechanics that the deck already wants, turning a low life total from a risk into a resource. At 66% inclusion it sits just below auto-include, but any build that cares about life totals as a dial should strongly consider it.

03
Golbez, Crystal Collector

Golbez, Crystal Collector

29.5% of decks · synergy 0.29

Golbez, Crystal Collector decks slot Death's Shadow in as a cheap, enormous threat that the commander's cost-reduction and big-creature synergies amplify — a one-mana creature that scales to double digits fits the curve manipulation the archetype wants. The 29% rate reflects that it's a good-stuff inclusion rather than a structural necessity.

04
The Mimeoplasm

The Mimeoplasm

22.0% of decks · synergy 0.21

The Mimeoplasm grabs Death's Shadow from any graveyard and uses its power as the +1/+1 counter source, making a 13-counter swing on whatever The Mimeoplasm copies. That specific interaction is the entire reason it shows up in 22% of lists — it's not a standalone threat here, it's a stat-stick for the graveyard engine.

05
Coram, the Undertaker

Coram, the Undertaker

19.5% of decks · synergy 0.19

Coram, the Undertaker casts Death's Shadow from the top of opponents' libraries when the self-mill and life-loss effects push your total low enough, threatening a massive free attacker. The 19% inclusion rate puts it in the strong-consideration tier for builds that lean harder into life-payment effects.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Death's Shadow is a Modern and Legacy staple precisely because those formats move fast enough to drop a player to 10 or fewer life by turn two, where a 3/3 or larger for one mana is already ahead of rate. In Commander, starting at 40 life changes the math drastically — you need dedicated self-damage infrastructure, which is exactly why Death's Shadow concentrates in specific archetypes rather than showing up as generic black filler. Legacy gives it the fastest home, with fetch-shock mana bases doing the life-loss work passively. Vintage allows it but the format rarely wants a creature that depends on your own pain when combo is faster. Commander is the most interesting format for Death's Shadow precisely because the 40-life ceiling means the card rewards deck-building commitment rather than incidental inclusion.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

There is no direct budget replacement for Death's Shadow, since the combination of a one-mana cost and a stat ceiling of 13/13 is genuinely unique. Phyrexian Crusader and Rotting Regisaur both offer above-rate black creatures with conditions, but neither scales with your life total or reaches the same size — if the self-damage engine is the point, the closest analog is something like Hatred as a finisher rather than a substitute creature.

Price Context

Current price

$5.34 mid tier

At $5.34, Death's Shadow sits in mid-tier pricing — accessible enough that it isn't a budget barrier, but not a bulk pickup either. The price is stable given its sustained demand in Modern and its growing Commander niche, so it holds value as a functional card rather than a speculative one.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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