Ob Nixilis's Cruelty
Instant
Target creature gets -5/-5 until end of turn. If that creature would die this turn, exile it instead.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- War of the Spark
- Price
- $0.07
- EDHREC rank
- #17224
Ob Nixilis's Cruelty exiles a creature and drains 2 life — unconditional, no regeneration escape hatch, no return from the graveyard. Five mana for a sorcery-speed removal spell is the ceiling on acceptable, and the drain rarely closes games, so this is a budget slot-filler rather than a staple.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Ob Nixilis's Cruelty competes against Fatal Push, Doom Blade, and Go for the Throat at a steep mana premium — it sees play almost exclusively in budget builds that need exile-based removal and can't afford better. Pauper is its most legitimate home: exile removal at common is genuinely scarce in black, and the life drain matters more in a format where life totals are lower and games are faster. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer, five mana at sorcery speed is unplayable in any competitive context — the format speed makes this a non-starter. Oathbreaker occasionally tolerates it when a black spellslinger commander cares about the life drain trigger, but even there it's a last resort.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.07 bulk tier
At $0.07, Ob Nixilis's Cruelty is deep bulk — you'll find it in a common box before you'd bother ordering it. Bulk black removal rarely climbs in price, so buy it for the slot it fills and don't expect the number to move.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.