Martyrs of Korlis
Creature — Human
As long as this creature is untapped, all damage that would be dealt to you by artifacts is dealt to this creature instead.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Antiquities
- Price
- $5.70
- EDHREC rank
- #30750
Martyrs of Korlis can absorb an arbitrarily large attack or spell damage — preventing damage equal to the total power of all creatures you control for one white mana is a ceiling that scales with your board. The catch is the sacrifice clause: this is a one-shot effect, not a repeatable shield, so it earns its slot only in decks that can loop sacrifice triggers or run life-total manipulation.
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 the primary home for Martyrs of Korlis — a three-player table means more attacks, more damage spikes, and more situations where a single prevention trigger buys you another full turn. In Legacy and Vintage, it's legal but essentially invisible; the tempo cost of a 1/1 creature that doesn't affect the board until sacrificed is too steep in formats that end games on turns one through three. Oathbreaker gives it a slightly narrower stage than Commander, but the same logic applies: life-total swings are bigger in multiplayer, which is where Martyrs of Korlis earns its keep.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Selfless Squire does something adjacent — preventing all combat damage for a turn and leaving behind a potentially enormous creature — at a similar price point, though it doesn't scale with your own board. Haze of Pollen and Bathe in Light offer cheaper one-shot protection options if the goal is pure damage prevention, though neither punishes attackers the way Martyrs of Korlis does when your creatures are large.
Price Context
Current price
$5.70 mid tier
At $5.70, Martyrs of Korlis sits in mid-tier pricing for a niche utility creature with a narrow competitive ceiling. It's a casual Commander staple in specific life-gain and sacrifice builds, but that demand base is small enough that the price is unlikely to climb without a reprint pushing wider adoption.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.