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Essence Depleter

Creature — Eldrazi Drone

Devoid (This card has no color.)
{1}{C}: Target opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. ({C} represents colorless mana.)

CMC
3
Mana cost
{2}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Oath of the Gatewatch
Price
$0.05
EDHREC rank
#24403
Buy on TCGplayer
Essence Depleter card art
Essence Depleter drains one life per activation on a body that never needs to attack, and Sunbond turns every one of those triggers into a +1/+1 counter. The cost — three mana to deploy plus two colorless per activation — keeps it out of competitive shells, but in a dedicated life-gain or Eldrazi-themed list it does exactly what it says.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Essence Depleter is a casual Commander card; nowhere else is the two-mana-per-activation cost acceptable when faster finishers exist at every price point. In Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, and Vintage it's strictly outclassed by nearly any other win condition. Commander is where the slow, repeatable drain finds a home — specifically in life-gain or Eldrazi-flavored decks willing to spend mana over several turns rather than closing the game in one swing.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.05 bulk tier

At $0.05, Essence Depleter is pure bulk — buy a playset for a quarter and don't think twice. That price will not move; demand is narrow and supply is deep.

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Sources

Mentioned

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