Pain // Suffering
Sorcery // Sorcery
Target player discards a card.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BR
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Duel Decks: Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas
- Price
- $0.08
- EDHREC rank
- #25976
Pain // Suffering gives you two stapled effects — a Gut Shot variant on the front half and a Manabarbs-style punishment enchantment on the back — for a combined five mana across two separate casts. The split-card structure means flexibility, but neither half is efficient enough to justify the slot over purpose-built alternatives.
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 |
Pain // Suffering is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but Legacy and Vintage have no practical interest in it — those formats demand efficiency that neither half clears. In Commander, the Suffering half has a real home in group-slug and stax builds where taxing mana expenditure stacks with other punisher effects. The Pain half is a one-damage instant for one mana, which is too marginal to run on its own; it exists mostly to give the card a second mode. Oathbreaker can technically use it in the same punisher shells, but the smaller starting life totals make Suffering's payoff harder to snowball.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.08 bulk tier
At $0.08, Pain // Suffering is deep bulk — buy it out of a common box, not a singles listing. Bulk split cards from older sets rarely move off the floor unless a new punisher commander drives sudden demand, so don't expect price movement.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.