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Minion of the Wastes

Creature — Minion

Trample
As this creature enters, pay any amount of life.
Minion of the Wastes's power and toughness are each equal to the life paid as it entered.

CMC
6
Mana cost
{3}{B}{B}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
rare
Set
Tempest
Price
$1.04
EDHREC rank
#23607
Buy on TCGplayer
Minion of the Wastes card art
Minion of the Wastes enters as a trampler sized exactly to how much life you're willing to spend — pay more, get more, die faster. Unlike a modal spell such as Inscription of Abundance where flexibility cushions the cost, Minion demands you commit hard to the life payment upfront or you're paying five mana for a vanilla 1/1 with trample.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern not legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is the best home for Minion of the Wastes by a wide margin — life totals start at 40, which means you can realistically pay 15 or 20 life on curve and land something that immediately closes games. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but has never found a home; five mana is a prohibitive rate in those formats when Phyrexian Dreadnought and similar threats exist at a fraction of the cost. Outside of dedicated life-payment Commander decks, Minion of the Wastes is a niche card with a narrow but real ceiling.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$1.04 cheap tier

At $1.04, Minion of the Wastes sits in budget territory where casual demand and Commander niche appeal keep the floor stable. It's not a card that appreciates — print runs are deep and the use case is narrow enough that you should buy it when you need it and not worry about the timing.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.