Grasping Shadows // Shadows' Lair
Enchantment // Land — Cave
Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, it gains deathtouch and lifelink until end of turn. Put a dread counter on this enchantment. Then if there are three or more dread counters on it, transform it.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
- Price
- $0.19
- EDHREC rank
- #12806
Grasping Shadows // Shadows' Lair gives you a hand-disruption spell that flips into a repeatable discard land — two functions stapled together for the cost of one card slot. The front half is a situational two-mana sorcery, but the back half earning a land drop makes this a genuine two-for-one in any black deck that wants attrition.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Grasping Shadows // Shadows' Lair earns its slot in discard-matters and reanimator shells where every hand disruption spell doubles as insurance against a dead card — the land back is the real upside at a 100-card table. In 60-card formats like Modern and Pioneer, it competes against purpose-built discard like Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek, where the sorcery speed and conditional targeting make the front half too slow for most aggressive or tempo strategies. Legacy and Vintage have the same problem amplified: the power level of available discard is just too high for this to crack competitive lists. Standard is where it's most likely to see genuine play, since the land back offsets the tempo cost and the competition for cheap discard is thinner.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.19 bulk tier
At $0.19, Grasping Shadows // Shadows' Lair is deep bulk — easy to pick up in large quantities without budget concern. MDFCs with meaningful land backs tend to hold a modest floor, so don't expect this to crater further, but it's a pick-up-and-play card, not a spec.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.