Midnight Banshee
Creature — Spirit
Wither (This deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a -1/-1 counter on each nonblack creature.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Modern Masters 2015
- Price
- $4.20
- EDHREC rank
- #4791
Midnight Banshee enters the battlefield and immediately starts shrinking every nonblack creature on the board by one -1/-1 counter per upkeep — a persistent, symmetrical wither clock that clears out utility creatures and tokens without you lifting a finger. The six-mana cost is steep, but commanders like The Scorpion God turn every counter placement into a card draw trigger, making the price of admission irrelevant by turn two of the Banshee being in play.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
The Scorpion God
The Scorpion God draws a card whenever any creature gets a -1/-1 counter, so Midnight Banshee's upkeep trigger across a full board can refill your hand in a single cycle. At 70% inclusion, this is the definitive home — the Banshee is functionally a repeating Ancestral Recall stapled to a sweeper.
Auntie Ool, Cursewretch
Auntie Ool, Cursewretch cares about counters leaving creatures and dying, and Midnight Banshee guarantees a steady drip of both across every opponent's board. The Banshee's nonblack clause also protects Auntie Ool herself, keeping your engine piece safe while everything else erodes.
Massacre Girl, Known Killer
Massacre Girl, Known Killer gives all your creatures wither, and Midnight Banshee's upkeep counters stack directly with combat damage to accelerate kills. A creature that survives the Banshee's tick weakened is often one Massacre Girl attack away from a confirmed kill.
The Reaper, King No More
The Reaper, King No More builds around -1/-1 counters as a removal engine, and Midnight Banshee automates the counter placement that would otherwise require spell slots. At 58% inclusion, it serves as a reliable passive threat that frees up The Reaper's other synergies to close games.
Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons
Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons creates a 1/1 deathtouch Snake whenever a creature gets a -1/-1 counter, so Midnight Banshee's upkeep trigger across three opponents can produce a board of tokens in a matter of turns. The Banshee's six-mana cost is the ceiling of what Hapatra decks want to pay, but the token generation it enables is engine-level payoff.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Midnight Banshee actually functions as designed — three opponents means three boards getting ticked down every upkeep, and the nonblack clause rarely matters in black-heavy shells built around -1/-1 counter synergies. In Legacy and Vintage, a six-mana 5/5 with no immediate board impact is simply too slow; both formats have access to faster, more efficient removal that makes the Banshee's slow clock irrelevant before it can matter. Oathbreaker occupies a middle ground where the smaller starting life totals make the attrition clock more threatening, and the format's lower power ceiling makes six mana less punishing. Pioneer, Standard, and Pauper are not legal targets, so Midnight Banshee's competitive resume starts and ends with the multiplayer formats where its symmetrical pressure is a feature rather than a liability.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$4.20 cheap tier
At $4.20, Midnight Banshee sits in the cheap tier — low enough to slot into budget -1/-1 counter builds without a second thought. It's a narrow enough card that the price is unlikely to spike dramatically, so buying in now or later carries roughly equal risk.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.