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Heartless Hidetsugu

Legendary Creature — Ogre Shaman

{T}: Heartless Hidetsugu deals damage to each player equal to half that player's life total, rounded down.

CMC
5
Mana cost
{3}{R}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
rare
Set
Conspiracy
Price
$2.39
EDHREC rank
#2997
Buy on TCGplayer
Heartless Hidetsugu card art
Heartless Hidetsugu cuts every opponent's life total in half with a single tap ability — the entire table goes to 20 or below in one activation, and anyone already at an odd life total dies outright. The cost is four mana to cast and summoning sickness, which means he's removal-bait before he ever untaps; pair him with Solphim, Mayhem Dominus to push those halved totals into kill range, or run him in Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence where the self-damage fuels a second threat.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence

Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence

82.4% of decks · synergy 0.77

Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence converts the damage Heartless Hidetsugu deals to you into +1/+1 counters and extra mana, turning the symmetric downside into pure upside — activation one funds a bigger swing, and Blyte grows into a lethal attacker while opponents spiral down.

02
Solphim, Mayhem Dominus

Solphim, Mayhem Dominus

59.6% of decks · synergy 0.55

Solphim, Mayhem Dominus doubles noncombat damage to opponents, so a single Heartless Hidetsugu activation stops being "half their life" and becomes "three-quarters" — opponents at 40 land at 10, and anyone already chipped drops dead.

03
Neheb, the Eternal

Neheb, the Eternal

52.5% of decks · synergy 0.47

Neheb, the Eternal converts damage dealt to opponents in the first main phase into mountains of red mana during the second main phase, and Heartless Hidetsugu dealing 20 across the table in one tap translates directly into a massive mana surplus to close out the game.

04
Zo-Zu the Punisher

Zo-Zu the Punisher

49.5% of decks · synergy 0.45

Zo-Zu the Punisher chips every opponent every time they play a land, and Heartless Hidetsugu halves whatever totals remain — together they run a persistent attrition clock that bypasses creature-based defenses entirely.

05
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight

Gisela, Blade of Goldnight

38.1% of decks · synergy 0.37

Gisela, Blade of Goldnight halves all damage dealt to you and doubles all damage dealt to opponents, which means a Heartless Hidetsugu activation hits opponents for full value while you absorb a fraction of the symmetric damage — the asymmetry effectively makes the ability one-sided.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Commander is where Heartless Hidetsugu actually lives — the four-player starting life total of 40 is exactly what makes a halving ability backbreaking, and the format's slower setup gives him a window to untap. In Legacy and Vintage he's legal but irrelevant; five mana for a do-nothing-until-next-turn threat competes with fast mana and free interaction at every point on the curve. Oathbreaker is theoretically viable as a signature spell engine in aggressive red builds, though the card is far more compelling as the headliner than as support.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$2.39 cheap tier

At $2.39, Heartless Hidetsugu is firmly budget territory for a card that functions as a combo piece and a win condition simultaneously. The price reflects plentiful supply rather than weak demand — he's in tens of thousands of Commander decks — and there's no meaningful risk of paying too much here.

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Sources

Mentioned

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