Mari, the Killing Quill
Legendary Creature — Vampire Assassin
Whenever a creature an opponent controls dies, exile it with a hit counter on it.
Assassins, Mercenaries, and Rogues you control have deathtouch and "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you may remove a hit counter from a card that player owns in exile. If you do, draw a card and create two Treasure tokens."
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- New Capenna Commander
- Price
- $3.69
- EDHREC rank
- #2306
Mari, the Killing Quill turns every creature kill into a Blood token, generating card selection at a rate that snowballs hard in decks that kill often. The cost is real — she needs a steady stream of opposing creatures to justify her slot — but Olivia, Opulent Outlaw decks, which kill things constantly and want treasure payoffs, rarely notice the downside.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Olivia, Opulent Outlaw
Olivia, Opulent Outlaw kills creatures on combat, and Mari, the Killing Quill converts each of those kills into a Blood token, giving the deck a filtering engine that runs entirely on what Olivia already wants to do.
Etrata, Deadly Fugitive
Etrata, Deadly Fugitive builds around Assassins dealing combat damage and exiling creatures, and Mari, the Killing Quill slots in as the card-selection engine that keeps the hand full while the hit squad does its work.
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad rewards eliminating targets, and Mari, the Killing Quill rewards the same trigger — every assassination feeds both commanders simultaneously, doubling the return on each kill.
Ramses, Assassin Lord
Ramses, Assassin Lord runs a full Assassin tribal package and wants repeated kill effects to pressure life totals; Mari, the Killing Quill plugs into that plan as a Blood-token engine that keeps the tribe's hand stocked.
Vihaan, Goldwaker
Vihaan, Goldwaker converts Treasure tokens into attacking creatures, and Mari, the Killing Quill generates Blood — not Treasure — but the overlap in Mardu artifact-token shells means Mari still earns her spot as the deck's primary draw-filtering engine.
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 |
Commander is where Mari, the Killing Quill belongs — 100-card singleton games are packed with creatures, and the repeated kill triggers that power her engine happen naturally over a long game. In Legacy and Vintage, she's technically legal but competes with formats that end too fast and run too few creatures to sustain her token generation. Oathbreaker offers a real home if the signature spell lines up with a kill-heavy game plan, since the shorter game doesn't completely starve her of triggers. Everywhere else, she's ineligible.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$3.69 cheap tier
At $3.69, Mari, the Killing Quill sits in the budget-rare tier — cheap enough to slot into any deck that wants her without a second thought. Inclusion rates above 80% in Olivia, Opulent Outlaw decks suggest strong demand, which should keep the price stable rather than drifting lower.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Olivia, Opulent Outlaw
- Etrata, Deadly Fugitive
- Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
- Ramses, Assassin Lord
- Vihaan, Goldwaker
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.