Emissary of Despair
Creature — Spirit
Flying
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, that player loses 1 life for each artifact they control.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Darksteel
- Price
- $0.14
- EDHREC rank
- #19960
Emissary of Despair makes every artifact and enchantment an opponent controls cost them life — a constant drain that punishes the permanents already on the board, not just future plays. Three mana for a 2/1 with flying is a weak body, and the effect rarely closes games on its own, so you're running it for synergy in a dedicated drain shell, not as a standalone threat.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Emissary of Despair fits narrowest into black tax or aristocrats shells where opponents are already artifact-heavy — it's not a staple, but against a table running Signets and Sol Rings it quietly accumulates damage. Legacy, Modern, and Vintage are all legal formats, but Emissary of Despair is far too slow and fragile for any of them; a 2/1 that drains conditionally doesn't compete with the threats and interaction available at those power levels. This is a Commander-exclusive card in practice, and even there it earns a slot only when the deck actively rewards life-loss triggers or stacks multiple drain effects.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.14 bulk tier
At $0.14, Emissary of Despair is deep bulk — easy to pick up from any common box or low-value trade binder. Don't expect the price to move; the card sees too little competitive play to attract demand.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.