Liliana of the Veil
Legendary Planeswalker — Liliana
+1: Each player discards a card.
−2: Target player sacrifices a creature.
−6: Separate all permanents target player controls into two piles. That player sacrifices all permanents in the pile of their choice.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Dominaria United
- Price
- $5.12
- EDHREC rank
- #2886
Liliana of the Veil enters at three mana and immediately pressures every opponent's hand and board — the +1 drains resources, the -2 forces a sacrifice, and the ultimate can lock a player out of permanents entirely. At its current price point it's one of the most efficient discard-and-sacrifice engines black can run, and Liliana, Heretical Healer decks treat it as a near-staple for good reason.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Liliana, Heretical Healer
Liliana, Heretical Healer flips into a planeswalker on creature death, and Liliana of the Veil's -2 provides a repeatable sacrifice trigger on demand — the two cards form a tight loop that keeps the commander transforming while stripping opponents of permanents.
Tergrid, God of Fright
Tergrid, God of Fright steals every permanent an opponent sacrifices or discards, turning Liliana of the Veil's +1 and -2 into free theft every single turn.
Tinybones, Trinket Thief
Tinybones, Trinket Thief rewards opponents being empty-handed, and Liliana of the Veil's +1 moves everyone toward zero cards in hand faster than almost any other three-mana play in black.
Tinybones, Bauble Burglar
Tinybones, Bauble Burglar cares about opponents discarding cards, and Liliana of the Veil's symmetrical +1 triggers that payoff every upkeep with minimal setup required.
Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal
Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal punishes opponents for having empty hands, and Liliana of the Veil accelerates the table toward that state while also providing a sacrifice outlet that plays into Aclazotz's bat-token gameplan.
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 Legacy and Vintage, Liliana of the Veil defined a decade of Jund and BUG midrange — the three-mana cost is cheap enough to land before the opponent stabilizes, and the +1 grinding alongside Thoughtseize is still the gold standard for hand disruption. Modern remains her most active competitive home; she's legal and sees continued play in Jund and Rakdos midrange shells where the sacrifice clause answers indestructible threats that spot removal can't touch. Pioneer is legal but she's less dominant there — the format's faster threats and aggressive curve make a three-mana planeswalker without an immediate board impact feel slow. In Commander, Liliana of the Veil is narrower than in 1v1 formats: the symmetric +1 is diluted across multiple opponents and she lacks the raw card advantage that Commander games demand, so she belongs specifically in discard-matters or sacrifice-matters builds rather than as a generically powerful include.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Liliana's Specter and Syphon Mind both replicate the forced-discard angle at a fraction of the cost, though neither threatens a game-ending ultimate or provides a recurring sacrifice outlet. If the sacrifice clause is the draw, Plaguecrafter hits every opponent and costs under a dollar — it lacks the repeatable upside of Liliana of the Veil but lines up well in Commander where you need effects that scale to multiple opponents.
Price Context
Current price
$5.12 mid tier
At $5.12, Liliana of the Veil sits in the mid tier — affordable enough that budget isn't a real barrier, but meaningful enough that you want a deck built to actually leverage the discard and sacrifice synergies before slotting her in. Reprint history has brought her down significantly from triple-digit peaks, and that price is likely to stay stable given how frequently she's been reprinted.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Liliana, Heretical Healer
- Tergrid, God of Fright
- Tinybones, Trinket Thief
- Tinybones, Bauble Burglar
- Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.