Lithophage
Creature — Insect
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice this creature unless you sacrifice a Mountain.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Duel Decks: Venser vs. Koth
- Price
- $0.20
- EDHREC rank
- #30098
Lithophage is a 7/7 trampler for five mana — above-rate stats — but it forces you to sacrifice a land at the start of each of your upkeeps or sacrifice it, which means every turn you untap with it, the board gets smaller. The upside is real and the downside is punishing; this card belongs in decks that either cheat it out or plan to sacrifice it before the tax comes due.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Lithophage finds a home in sacrifice and land-recursion shells — decks running Crucible of Worlds or Titania, Protector of Argoth effects can treat the land sacrifice as a resource rather than a loss. Legacy and Vintage are legal formats but offer no compelling reason to run a five-mana vanilla threat when the formats reward faster, more resilient threats. Oathbreaker shares Commander's singleton structure and the same narrow niche applies: pair Lithophage with a planeswalker that generates lands or benefits from sacrifice and the tax becomes tolerable.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.20 bulk tier
At $0.20, Lithophage is deep bulk — the price reflects its narrow playability rather than any scarcity. It's unlikely to climb unless a future card creates a specific land-sacrifice synergy that puts it on the radar.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.