Drown in Ichor
Sorcery
Target creature gets -4/-4 until end of turn. Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Phyrexia: All Will Be One
- Price
- $1.09
- EDHREC rank
- #2004
Drown in Ichor puts a -1/-1 counter on every creature an opponent controls and gives each of those creatures infect until end of turn — for two mana at instant speed, that's a board-wide Wither effect that scales with the number of creatures it touches. Massacre Girl, Known Killer turns every one of those -1/-1 counters into a trigger, so Drown in Ichor isn't just removal here; it's a potential chain reaction that clears the table.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Massacre Girl, Known Killer
Massacre Girl, Known Killer triggers off every -1/-1 counter placed on an opponent's creature, and Drown in Ichor places one on each creature a single opponent controls simultaneously — meaning one two-mana instant can fire off a cascade of Massacre Girl triggers that wipes the board before anyone passes priority.
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon is a poison-counter kill condition, and Drown in Ichor fits naturally into that gameplan by spreading -1/-1 counters that double as infect damage when opponents try to chump block or trade — every point of toughness shaved is one fewer blocker standing between Skithiryx and a lethal swing.
Minthara, Merciless Soul
Minthara, Merciless Soul cares about creatures dying and about pressing offensive advantages, so Drown in Ichor does real work by weakening a whole board before an attack step — creatures that drop to 0 toughness die immediately, and those that survive are easier to trade through.
Karumonix, the Rat King
Karumonix, the Rat King builds around Rats, and Drown in Ichor slots in as an efficient answer to token swarms and small blockers that would otherwise brick a rat attack — shrinking an entire opponent's board for two mana at instant speed is hard to match at that price.
Agent Frank Horrigan
Agent Frank Horrigan wants to get in for combat damage and punish opponents for having creatures, so Drown in Ichor serves as both a pre-combat board softener and a way to eliminate key defenders by ticking them down to zero toughness before declaring attackers.
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 |
In Commander, Drown in Ichor is a role-player rather than a staple — it earns its slot specifically in -1/-1 counter synergy decks and infect strategies, where the effect compounds well beyond simple removal. In older 60-card formats like Modern and Legacy, it sees essentially no competitive play; targeted removal and board wipes in those formats are far more efficient, and spreading -1/-1 counters across one player's board rarely advances a game plan fast enough. Pioneer is in the same boat — the effect is too conditional for a format with streamlined aggro and combo threats. Oathbreaker mirrors Commander in that niche synergy commanders can make real use of Drown in Ichor, but outside those specific homes, it's a card you build around rather than a card you slot in generically.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.09 cheap tier
At $1.09, Drown in Ichor sits at an accessible price point that makes it a low-risk inclusion for any deck that wants it. The effect is narrow enough that demand is unlikely to push the price significantly higher, so it should hold near this floor for the foreseeable future.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.