Misfortune
Sorcery
An opponent chooses one —
• You put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control and gain 4 life.
• You put a -1/-1 counter on each creature that player controls and Misfortune deals 4 damage to that player.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BGR
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Alliances
- Price
- $1.34
- EDHREC rank
- #27173
Misfortune forces an opponent to either distribute four damage across any targets or give every opponent a Plains, Island, Swamp, and Mountain — either outcome advances your board or punishes theirs. At one black mana, the rate is absurd; the catch is that you never control which mode your opponent picks.
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 where Misfortune lives. With three opponents each choosing a mode, you will almost always see a mix of responses — someone takes the lands, someone eats the damage — and the aggregate effect over a game is significant for one mana. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but far too situational for competitive play, where a one-mana spell needs to do something decisive on its own. Oathbreaker shares Commander's multiplayer structure, so the same multi-opponent dynamic applies at a smaller table.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.34 cheap tier
At $1.34, Misfortune sits in the cheap tier — aggressively priced for a card with genuine multiplayer utility. It sees narrow enough play that the price is unlikely to climb, but a buck and change is a low bar for a political one-drop that occasionally just reads 'destroy target land base.'
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.