Howling Mine
Artifact
At the beginning of each player's draw step, if this artifact is untapped, that player draws an additional card.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Unlimited Edition
- Price
- $96.83
- EDHREC rank
- #721
Howling Mine puts an extra card in every player's hand each upkeep — symmetrical, immediate, and completely on-board the turn it lands. Decks that punish drawing, like Ian Malcolm, Chaotician, or that pair it with Hive Mind to generate cascading chaos, turn that symmetry into a one-sided weapon.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Ian Malcolm, Chaotician
Ian Malcolm, Chaotician appears in 87% of lists that run Howling Mine because the Mine's forced group draw feeds Ian Malcolm's ability to copy instants and sorceries opponents cast — more cards means more triggers, more chaos, more copied spells.
Kami of the Crescent Moon
Kami of the Crescent Moon is itself a Howling Mine stapled to a creature, so the two stack directly into a group-slug or group-hug engine that floods the table with cards each turn.
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse converts every draw an opponent takes into life loss, so Howling Mine's symmetrical extra card becomes asymmetrical damage — opponents draw more, they die faster.
Nekusar, the Mindrazer
Nekusar, the Mindrazer deals damage every time any player draws a card, which makes Howling Mine a repeating burn spell that hits every opponent every turn for free.
Kwain, Itinerant Meddler
Kwain, Itinerant Meddler builds a political group-hug shell where Howling Mine is a foundational piece — both effects stack to push the whole table into a high-draw, high-resource game state Kwain's strategy exploits.
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 Howling Mine earns its reputation — three opponents all drawing extra cards multiplies its symmetry problem into a three-way advantage you need to exploit immediately, whether through punishment effects or combos. In Legacy and Vintage it sees occasional play in dedicated combo shells that want to accelerate their own clock, but the format speed means opponents can use the extra card to find interaction before you do. Modern has largely left it behind in favor of one-sided draw engines that don't hand resources to opponents. Pioneer and Standard aren't relevant — Howling Mine is not legal in either. Oathbreaker works on the same logic as Commander: if your signature spell converts drawn cards into damage or locks, the Mine fuels the kill.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Hive MindEnter the InfiniteHowling Mine
Each opponent loses the game; Infinite card draw; Infinite card draw for each opponent; Infinite draw triggers; Infinite draw triggers for each opponent
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Howling Mine's effect is essentially unique at its price point, but Font of Mythos doubles the draw for both players at a similar mana cost and is available for under a dollar — you give up nothing mechanically, though opponents get even more cards. Anvil of Bogardan is a sub-$1 alternative that forces discard alongside the draw, which pairs better in hellbent or discard-punishment builds but loses the clean extra-draw synergy that makes Howling Mine the default in draw-punishment decks.
Price Context
Current price
$96.83 premium tier
At $96.83, Howling Mine sits in premium territory driven almost entirely by its Old Border printing demand — the effect itself is functionally available on Font of Mythos for a fraction of the cost. It holds value as a collector's piece, but if you're buying it for gameplay, you're paying a steep aesthetic premium.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.