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Gratuitous Violence

Enchantment

If a creature you control would deal damage to a permanent or player, it deals double that damage instead.

CMC
5
Mana cost
{2}{R}{R}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
rare
Set
Bloomburrow Commander
Price
$0.45
EDHREC rank
#1526
Buy on TCGplayer
Gratuitous Violence card art
Gratuitous Violence doubles every point of damage your creatures deal — to creatures, players, and planeswalkers alike — for three mana and an enchantment slot. Commanders like Brion Stoutarm and Bello, Bard of the Brambles treat it as a mandatory include because it effectively doubles their output without requiring any additional resources.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

02

Clive, Ifrit's Dominant

48.3% of decks · synergy 0.41

Clive, Ifrit's Dominant cares about dealing combat damage to opponents, and Gratuitous Violence doubles each instance, meaning Clive's triggers fire off at twice the impact and games end several turns earlier.

03
Brion Stoutarm

Brion Stoutarm

40.1% of decks · synergy 0.37

Brion Stoutarm flings creatures at opponents for damage equal to their power, so Gratuitous Violence straight-up doubles every throw — a 6-power creature becomes a 12-damage lightning bolt to the face.

04
Ashling the Pilgrim

Ashling the Pilgrim

41.8% of decks · synergy 0.34

Ashling the Pilgrim's activated ability deals damage equal to its power to each creature and player, and Gratuitous Violence doubles every tick of that clock, making the eventual explosion dramatically more lethal.

05
Gornog, the Red Reaper

Gornog, the Red Reaper

40.0% of decks · synergy 0.32

Gornog, the Red Reaper rewards attacking with high-power creatures, and Gratuitous Violence ensures every point of combat damage dealt does double duty, accelerating Gornog's kill clock without any additional setup.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Gratuitous Violence is a Commander card — full stop. In 1v1 formats like Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer, six mana across two turns for a do-nothing enchantment is unplayable; the game is typically decided before it matters. Commander is where it lives: three opponents mean three targets for your doubled damage, and the slower pace gives you the turns needed to leverage a six-mana enchantment. In Oathbreaker it's technically legal and occasionally sees play in aggressive builds, but the 20-life total compresses the window where doubling damage is relevant versus just winning outright.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.45 bulk tier

At $0.45, Gratuitous Violence is bulk — a consequence of multiple printings keeping supply high despite consistent Commander demand. It holds at this price tier reliably; there's no reason to buy more than a single copy, but no reason to hesitate either.

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Sources

Mentioned

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