Melancholic Poet
Creature — Elf Bard
Repartee — Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets a creature, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Secrets of Strixhaven
- Price
- $0.12
- EDHREC rank
- #18984
Melancholic Poet puts a discard outlet and graveyard setup on a two-mana body — the on-board impact is real the turn it lands. It's a slam-run in Killian, Ink Duelist lists specifically, but narrow enough outside Orzhov aura-and-target shells that it rarely earns a slot elsewhere.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Killian, Ink Duelist
Killian, Ink Duelist halves the cost of targeted spells, and Melancholic Poet gives that engine a discard outlet that fuels the graveyard while keeping the board state moving — it's in over a quarter of Killian lists for exactly that reason.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Melancholic Poet occupies a tight niche: it's a two-mana discard outlet that rewards graveyard-leaning Orzhov and Dimir builds, but it won't show up outside that lane. In competitive 1v1 formats like Modern and Pioneer, a two-mana 2/1 with a discard trigger is too slow and too small to compete with purpose-built graveyard enablers. Pauper is where it has the most room to breathe if a discard-matters archetype ever consolidates around it, but right now it's waiting for a shell.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.12 bulk tier
At $0.12, Melancholic Poet is deep bulk — grab a copy without thinking about it if the deck calls for it. Bulk rares and uncommons at this price point don't tend to move unless a new commander or mechanic pushes them into demand, so treat it as a cheap include, not a pickup.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.