Gnawing Zombie
Creature — Zombie
, Sacrifice a creature: Target player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Jumpstart 2022
- Price
- $0.20
- EDHREC rank
- #19599
Gnawing Zombie drains one life and sacrifices a creature for one black mana — repeatable, instant-speed, and attached to a 1/2 body that costs two mana to deploy. It's a role-player, not a headliner, but in any deck that generates expendable creatures it pulls consistent work across a long game.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Gnawing Zombie earns its slot specifically in sacrifice-synergy builds — Zombie tribal, aristocrats, or Shirei recursion — where the one-mana activation drains each opponent simultaneously for a total of three life per use in a four-player pod. In Pauper it's a legitimate card, fitting the format's black aristocrats shell alongside Carrion Feeder and Dusk Legion Zealot where every sacrifice outlet at common is a resource. Modern and Pioneer have enough competition at two mana that Gnawing Zombie rarely makes the cut outside fringe Zombie strategies, and Legacy's card density makes it unplayable in any serious shell. The card's ceiling is squarely in Commander and Pauper; everywhere else it's outclassed.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.20 bulk tier
At $0.20, Gnawing Zombie is deep bulk — a penny-bin pickup that costs nothing to include and nothing to replace. Bulk commons and uncommons at this price point don't appreciate, so grab it for the slot and don't give the price a second thought.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.