Hatred
Instant
As an additional cost to cast this spell, pay X life.
Target creature gets +X/+0 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- World Championship Decks 1999
- Price
- $24.11
- EDHREC rank
- #7677
Hatred ends games on the spot — pay life equal to the difference, give a creature +X/+0, and one unblocked attacker becomes a one-shot kill. The cost is real: you're spending your life total as a resource, which means Ramses, Assassin Lord and Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord run it precisely because they can leverage that payment rather than just survive it.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Ramses, Assassin Lord
Ramses, Assassin Lord wins the game outright if a commander deals combat damage to an opponent, and Hatred turns any evasive creature into a guaranteed lethal hit — the combo requires almost no setup beyond an unblocked attacker and enough life to pay.
Zenos yae Galvus
Zenos yae Galvus rewards dealing combat damage and going all-in on a single threat, and Hatred converts that threat into a one-hit kill, making it one of the most efficient win conditions in the deck.
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon only needs to connect for ten infect damage to eliminate a player, and Hatred can pump the gap on a single swing — pay the life, swing once, done.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Hatred lives: 40 life gives you enough runway to pay aggressively, and the one-shot kill on an unblocked attacker is exactly the kind of explosive tempo spike the format rewards. Legacy legality is technically on the books, but Hatred has never found a home there — five mana at instant speed is too slow for a format defined by turn-one and turn-two kills. Vintage is the same story: legal, irrelevant. Oathbreaker is worth noting because the lower life totals make the life payment riskier, but the faster clock means the payoff comes sooner too.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Jarad, Golgari Lich LordHatred
Each opponent loses the game; Near-infinite lifeloss
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Kediss, Emberclaw FamiliarHatredTainted Strike
Each opponent loses the game
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
No card fully replicates what Hatred does, but Tainted Strike and Berserk cover the "one-hit kill on an unblocked attacker" role at a fraction of the price — Tainted Strike adds infect for a single black mana, and Berserk doubles power at the cost of destroying the creature afterward. The trade-off is that neither scales as freely as Hatred, which lets you set the exact number you need; both alternatives are more situational and require the creature to already be threatening.
Price Context
Current price
$24.11 premium tier
At $24.11, Hatred sits firmly in premium territory — this is a card you buy because nothing else closes a game the same way, not because it's the efficient choice. The price has held steadily due to consistent Commander demand and a limited reprint history, so it's unlikely to crater, but don't expect it to climb meaningfully either.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.