Grief Tyrant
Creature — Horror
This creature enters with four -1/-1 counters on it.
When this creature dies, put a -1/-1 counter on target creature for each -1/-1 counter on this creature.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BR
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Shadowmoor
- Price
- $0.23
- EDHREC rank
- #24866
Grief Tyrant enters and immediately shrinks every opponent's creature that already has a -1/-1 counter on it — a board-wide punch that scales with how deep you are into the counters plan. The cost is a five-mana 5/5 with no evasion, so it earns its slot in dedicated -1/-1 counter decks and nowhere else; The Scorpion God shells are the natural home.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
The Scorpion God
The Scorpion God distributes -1/-1 counters constantly, which means Grief Tyrant's enter-the-battlefield trigger fires across an already-infected board — and every creature The Scorpion God kills draws a card, so Grief Tyrant's punishment doubles as card advantage setup.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Grief Tyrant actually does something — multiplayer boards fill up with counters fast, so its ETB trigger hits multiple targets at once and the value compounds. In Legacy, Modern, and Vintage it's theoretically legal but has no competitive footing; five mana for a conditional debuff effect is far too slow for any of those formats. Oathbreaker is the one other format worth mentioning, where a -1/-1 counters signature spell strategy could make occasional use of it, but the card still needs a dedicated engine to justify inclusion.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.23 bulk tier
At $0.23, Grief Tyrant is deep bulk — pick it up without a second thought if it fits the deck. Bulk mythics and rares occasionally spike on renewed interest, but Grief Tyrant's narrow use case makes it a card you grab for the deck, not the binder.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- The Scorpion God
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.