Desolation
Enchantment
At the beginning of each end step, each player who tapped a land for mana this turn sacrifices a land of their choice. This enchantment deals 2 damage to each player who sacrificed a Plains this way.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Visions
- Price
- $1.40
- EDHREC rank
- #14697
Desolation forces every opponent to sacrifice a land at the start of their upkeep unless they pay two mana — at a permanent, recurring cost that compounds fast in a four-player game. The catch is symmetry: you're taxed too, so it belongs in decks built to punish the fallout, and Tergrid, God of Fright is the cleanest answer to that problem.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Tergrid, God of Fright
Desolation turns Tergrid, God of Fright into a land-ripping engine — every land your opponents sacrifice to dodge the tax is a land Tergrid puts onto your battlefield, and most tables will simply run out of ways to pay two mana every turn.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Desolation is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it's a Commander card in practice. In Legacy and Vintage the symmetry is a liability — faster formats don't give you the turns needed to bury opponents under attrition, and there are cleaner land-disruption tools available. Commander is where Desolation earns its slot: three opponents means three upkeep triggers per round, and a single stax or theft commander can turn that into a game-ending resource drain.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.40 cheap tier
At $1.40, Desolation sits in impulse-buy territory for how much table presence it generates. It's a cheap pickup with a narrow but devoted home, and that specificity tends to keep the floor stable.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Tergrid, God of Fright
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.