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Maddening Cacophony

Sorcery

Kicker {3}{U}
Each opponent mills eight cards. If this spell was kicked, instead each opponent mills half their library, rounded up.

CMC
2
Mana cost
{1}{U}
Color identity
U
Rarity
rare
Set
Zendikar Rising Promos
Price
$7.55
EDHREC rank
#1629
Buy on TCGplayer
Maddening Cacophony card art
Maddening Cacophony mills each opponent for half their library — and with Bruvac the Grandiloquent on the battlefield, that half becomes the whole library, ending the game on the spot for two mana. At that rate, it's not a mill spell; it's a win condition with kicker.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Bruvac the Grandiloquent

Bruvac the Grandiloquent

84.4% of decks · synergy 0.77

Bruvac the Grandiloquent's passive doubles every mill trigger, so Maddening Cacophony's 'half their library' clause mills each opponent's entire deck — this is the line the deck is built to assemble.

02
The Mindskinner

The Mindskinner

69.4% of decks · synergy 0.62

The Mindskinner triggers on opponents losing life whenever they mill, turning every card Maddening Cacophony dumps into a clock that pressures life totals while also chewing through libraries.

03
Phenax, God of Deception

Phenax, God of Deception

69.6% of decks · synergy 0.59

Phenax, God of Deception grinds opponents down with activated abilities over multiple turns, and Maddening Cacophony adds a single burst of pressure that collapses the endgame when incremental mill falls short.

04
Captain N'ghathrod

Captain N'ghathrod

65.9% of decks · synergy 0.55

Captain N'ghathrod rewards milling opponents by stealing their creatures, and Maddening Cacophony delivers a large chunk of each opponent's library at once — maximizing the pool of permanents to take.

05
Umbris, Fear Manifest

Umbris, Fear Manifest

63.3% of decks · synergy 0.53

Umbris, Fear Manifest grows whenever an opponent exiles cards from their library, and while Maddening Cacophony mills rather than exiles by default, it pairs with exile-mill pieces to stack counters and close games fast.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Maddening Cacophony is a Commander card at its core — the multiplayer mill clause scales hard with four opponents, and the Bruvac instant-win line is only relevant when you're already running a dedicated commander. In Legacy and Vintage, dedicated mill decks exist but run leaner and more interactive options; Maddening Cacophony's kicker is expensive at those speeds and the base mode mills one opponent, which rarely closes a game. Modern mill has tighter, more synergistic options at two mana, so Maddening Cacophony sits on the fringe there. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander format where it occasionally shows up, since planeswalker-driven mill can still leverage the half-library effect at reduced life totals.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

Glimpse the Unthinkable hits a single opponent for ten cards at two mana and is the closest true substitute at around $4, though it loses the multiplayer scaling that makes Maddening Cacophony worth running in Commander. Mind Grind can hit all opponents for less money, but the variable mana cost makes it inconsistent — Maddening Cacophony's fixed, predictable mill clause is a real advantage over both.

Price Context

Current price

$7.55 mid tier

At $7.55, Maddening Cacophony sits in mid-tier pricing that's justified by its Commander ubiquity — it's a staple in every serious mill deck and the combo with Bruvac keeps demand steady. It's not cheap enough to throw into speculative builds, but any deck where it earns a slot will get full value out of the card.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.