Drag the Canal
Instant
Create a 2/2 white and blue Detective creature token. If a creature died this turn, you gain 2 life, surveil 2, then investigate. (Create a Clue token. It's an artifact with "
, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card.")
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Murders at Karlov Manor
- Price
- $0.22
- EDHREC rank
- #16834
Drag the Canal mills five cards and puts a land from among them directly onto the battlefield — that's a ramp spell wearing a mill coat, and the self-mill upside is free. Three mana for a guaranteed land drop plus graveyard fuel is a clean rate in any deck that wants both.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Drag the Canal earns its slot in any deck that cares about self-mill — reanimator, threshold, or flashback strategies treat the five-card mill as pure upside on top of a Farseek effect. Outside Commander, the card is legal in Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, and Vintage, but those formats demand faster, more focused play; a three-mana spell that sometimes finds a land competes poorly against dedicated ramp or dedicated mill, and it's unlikely to see serious play in any of them. Oathbreaker shares enough of Commander's singleton, value-oriented texture that the same graveyard-synergy shells will want it there too.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.22 bulk tier
At $0.22, Drag the Canal is firmly bulk — you're not paying a premium for anything here. Bulk rares with narrow appeal tend to stay at this floor, so don't expect movement unless a graveyard-heavy deck in a high-profile format puts it on the radar.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.