March of the Drowned
Sorcery
Choose one —
• Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
• Return two target Pirate cards from your graveyard to your hand.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $0.31
- EDHREC rank
- #9709
March of the Drowned recovers two Pirates from your graveyard, or one Pirate plus a Pirate-matters permanent, for a single black mana — that rate is absurd. In Admiral Beckett Brass decks where losing key Pirates to removal is a constant threat, this is closer to a staple than a flex slot.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Admiral Beckett Brass
Admiral Beckett Brass runs a small pool of high-value Pirates, and losing one to a wrath can collapse the theft engine — March of the Drowned refills two at once for one mana, keeping the critical-mass count intact.
Edward Kenway
Edward Kenway burns through Pirates aggressively, and March of the Drowned is the cheapest way to claw them back and keep the pressure continuous.
Francisco, Fowl Marauder // Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator
Francisco, Fowl Marauder // Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator wants a steady stream of Pirates in play, and March of the Drowned ensures a single sweeper doesn't permanently set the board state back.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
March of the Drowned is a Commander card through and through — the payoff scales with Pirate tribal density, and nowhere is that density higher than 100-card singleton. In Pauper it's legal but tribal Pirates isn't a real deck, so the card sits unplayed. In Legacy and Vintage the effect is too slow and too narrow to compete with universal graveyard tools. Pioneer and Modern have Pirate shells, but the format speed means a one-mana sorcery that doesn't affect the board is hard to justify. Stick to Commander.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.31 bulk tier
At $0.31, March of the Drowned is pure bulk — pick it up in any common box without thinking twice. That price is stable; it has no constructed demand pulling it upward, so it will stay in bulk range indefinitely.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Admiral Beckett Brass
- Edward Kenway
- Francisco, Fowl Marauder // Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.