Painful Memories
Sorcery
Look at target opponent's hand and choose a card from it. Put that card on top of that player's library.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Classic Sixth Edition
- Price
- $0.10
- EDHREC rank
- #26178
Painful Memories makes target player reveal their hand and lose life equal to the number of cards in it — a one-shot information grab stapled to a clock on the opponent's life total. Two mana for a snapshot of someone's hand is fine; two mana for that plus four to seven damage in a Commander game is actually doing something.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Painful Memories occupies a niche: it reads an opponent's hand and punishes them for being ahead on cards, which is exactly the kind of effect discard-adjacent black decks want. The problem is it doesn't actually disrupt anything — you see the hand, they lose life, they keep every card. Dedicated discard commanders and hellbent-punishment builds get the most mileage, but most black decks would rather run a real threat. In Pauper it's legal and the life loss can matter more in a lower-life-total format, though the lack of disruption still limits it. Legacy and Vintage are possible homes in theory, but the effect is too slow and non-interactive for those formats to care.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.10 bulk tier
At $0.10, Painful Memories is pure bulk — you're paying for cardboard and shipping, not the effect. That price is stable because demand is low and supply is deep; don't expect movement in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.