Fear of the Dark
Enchantment Creature — Nightmare
Whenever this creature attacks, if defending player controls no Glimmer creatures, it gains menace and deathtouch until end of turn. (A creature with menace can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.)
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Duskmourn: House of Horror
- Price
- $0.11
- EDHREC rank
- #12465
Fear of the Dark is a five-mana black sorcery that fetches two Swamps from your library straight to the battlefield — that's two land drops for five mana, which is a real cost. Victor, Valgavoth's Seneschal decks run it anyway because the Swamp count matters for other payoffs, and hitting two at once is genuine ramp rather than just fixing.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Victor, Valgavoth's Seneschal
Victor, Valgavoth's Seneschal builds around black devotion and draining opponents, so Fear of the Dark pulling two Swamps simultaneously boosts both your mana base and any payoff that counts basic lands or black symbols on the battlefield.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Fear of the Dark occupies a narrow lane: mono-black or heavily black decks that actually want Swamp density for cards like Cabal Coffers, Lashwrithe, or Nightmare. Outside that context, five mana for two lands is too slow to compete with two-mana ramp like Arcane Signet. In Pauper, it's legal but rarely played — the format's faster, and basic land ramp at common gets outclassed by cheaper options. In constructed formats like Pioneer and Modern, Fear of the Dark doesn't show up competitively; the effect is too slow and too conditional to matter in sixty-card environments where games are decided by turn four.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.11 bulk tier
At $0.11, Fear of the Dark is bulk — you're not paying for the card, you're paying for the shipping. It won't hold or gain value, but for mono-black Commander builds that want Swamp count, the price is irrelevant: just pick one up.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.