Keening Stone
Artifact
, 
: Target player mills X cards, where X is the number of cards in that player's graveyard.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- The Brothers' War Retro Artifacts
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #8937
Keening Stone closes mill games that are already in progress — once a player has lost half their library, it mills that same number again for six mana, which often ends the game on the spot. The cost is real: six mana for an artifact that does nothing until a mill engine like Phenax, God of Deception or a spell like Maddening Cacophony has already done the setup work means it's a finisher, not an engine, and you should slot it accordingly.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Phenax, God of Deception
Phenax, God of Deception mills incrementally every turn through tapped creatures, which means opponents' libraries shrink steadily — exactly the condition Keening Stone needs to convert into a one-shot kill.
Bruvac the Grandiloquent
Bruvac the Grandiloquent doubles every mill trigger, so libraries empty at twice the speed, and Keening Stone's activated ability scales directly off the number of cards already in the graveyard — the two cards create a geometric finish that's hard to race.
Lord Xander, the Collector
Lord Xander, the Collector forces opponents to discard and mill on attack, gradually carving down libraries from multiple angles; Keening Stone converts that accumulated attrition into a lethal activated ability at the moment the math tips over.
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 |
Keening Stone is a Commander card — full stop. In Legacy, Modern, and Vintage it is technically legal but competes against dedicated mill strategies that win faster and more efficiently, and six mana for a conditional activated ability simply doesn't make the cut in those formats. Commander is where it earns its slot: multiplayer games run long, libraries are 100 cards, and dedicated mill commanders create the graveyard depth Keening Stone needs to be lethal. In Oathbreaker the card is legal but the smaller deck size and faster pace make it a fringe consideration at best.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Maddening CacophonyKeening Stone
Infinite mill for target opponent; Near-infinite mill
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Fleet SwallowerKeening Stone
Infinite self-mill; Infinite mill for target opponent
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Current pricing data for Keening Stone isn't available in this snapshot, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the latest number. Historically it has sat in budget-to-mid range territory — worth picking up if you're building dedicated mill in Commander, but not a card to prioritize at a premium.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.