Infernal Reckoning
Instant
Exile target colorless creature. You gain life equal to its power.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Core Set 2019 Promos
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #23769
Infernal Reckoning exiles an artifact creature and nets you life equal to its power — all for one black mana, at instant speed. The catch is real: it's dead against any non-artifact creature, so it earns a slot only in metas where Blightsteel Colossus, Metalwork Colossus, and similar threats show up regularly.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Infernal Reckoning is a narrow sideboard-style include that occasionally looks brilliant — one mana to exile an indestructible 11/11 and gain 11 life is the kind of blowout that wins games on the spot. Outside of artifact-heavy pods, though, it's a dead draw, and Commander's singleton, multiplayer nature makes that inconsistency punishing. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer it's strictly a sideboard card against Affinity, Hardened Scales, or Amulet Titan shells running large artifact creatures, where the one-mana cost makes it genuinely competitive. Vintage has enough artifact threats that the card sees occasional fringe sideboard play, but dedicated artifact removal with broader targeting almost always edges it out.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Price data isn't available for Infernal Reckoning at the moment, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for a current figure. Given its narrow application, it tends to sit in bulk-rare territory — expect to pick up copies cheaply, which makes running it in the right Commander pod an easy budget call.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.