Martyr of Bones
Creature — Human Wizard
, Reveal X black cards from your hand, Sacrifice this creature: Exile up to X target cards from a single graveyard.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Coldsnap
- Price
- $0.07
- EDHREC rank
- #29767
Martyr of Bones trades itself and cards from your hand to exile all creature cards from a graveyard — a full hate-piece against graveyard decks for one black mana. The cost is real, but for decks that flood their hands or leverage discard synergies, paying two or three cards is barely a setback.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Martyr of Bones is a cheap, instant-speed answer to graveyard-based combo decks — the exile clause stops Reanimate targets, Dredge recursion, and flashback threats in one activation. In Pauper, where graveyard strategies are common and the card pool for hate is limited by rarity, it competes for slots against Nihil Spellbomb and Relic of Progenitus — it wins on mana efficiency but loses on reusability. Legacy and Vintage have so many faster, less costly graveyard hate options that Martyr of Bones rarely makes the cut outside of budget lists.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.07 bulk tier
At $0.07, Martyr of Bones is deep bulk — pick up a playset for the cost of a single basic land sleeve. Bulk commons at this price point don't appreciate, but they don't need to; the value is in the effect, not the card.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.