Merciless Eternal
Creature — Zombie Cleric
Afflict 2 (Whenever this creature becomes blocked, defending player loses 2 life.)
, Discard a card: This creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Hour of Devastation
- Price
- $0.29
- EDHREC rank
- #24608
Merciless Eternal puts a 4/2 menace body on the board and converts discarded cards into +1/+1 counters, turning discard-matters strategies into a consistent threat. The cost is real — it asks you to feed it cards — but in any shell that wants to discard anyway, that cost is the point.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Merciless Eternal is a Commander card — the discard payoff scales best in 100-card singleton where wheel and discard-matters strategies have the most support. In Modern and Pioneer it's simply outclassed: a three-mana 4/2 that needs setup to grow isn't competing with that speed. Legacy and Vintage are theoretically legal but have zero interest in it. Commander is where Merciless Eternal earns its slot, specifically in Rakdos or Grixis wheels builds that generate enough discard to turn it into a serious threat within a few turns.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.29 bulk tier
At $0.29, Merciless Eternal is pure bulk — pick it up without a second thought. Bulk rares with narrow applications rarely climb, so don't expect the price to move, but at this level the cost of inclusion is negligible.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.