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Pawn of Ulamog

Creature — Vampire Shaman

Whenever this creature or another nontoken creature you control dies, you may create a 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature token. It has "Sacrifice this token: Add {C}."

CMC
3
Mana cost
{1}{B}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Secrets of Strixhaven Commander
Price
$0.89
EDHREC rank
#1586
Buy on TCGplayer
Pawn of Ulamog card art
Pawn of Ulamog turns every nontoken creature death into a free 0/1 Eldrazi Spawn that cashes out for a colorless mana — which means sacrifice-heavy engines never run dry. Pair it with a self-recurring threat like Reassembling Skeleton and a commander like Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, and each death loop generates both card advantage and mana simultaneously.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

68.3% of decks · synergy 0.58

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician runs Pawn of Ulamog because the Spawn tokens it creates become free sacrifice fodder for Yawgmoth's proliferate-and-draw ability, letting the engine sustain itself without spending creatures you actually want to keep.

02
Teysa Karlov

Teysa Karlov

56.9% of decks · synergy 0.50

Teysa Karlov doubles death triggers, which means Pawn of Ulamog produces two Eldrazi Spawn instead of one every time a nontoken creature dies — that's twice the mana generation off every sacrifice cycle.

03
Dina, Essence Brewer

Dina, Essence Brewer

48.5% of decks · synergy 0.46

Dina, Essence Brewer wants a steady stream of tokens to sacrifice for life drain, and Pawn of Ulamog automatically restocks the supply whenever the nontoken creatures fueling her engine die.

04

Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER

51.1% of decks · synergy 0.41

Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER accumulates counters and value through repeated creature death, and Pawn of Ulamog ensures each nontoken casualty at least replaces itself with a mana-producing Spawn so the chain never bottoms out.

05
Super Shredder

Super Shredder

39.0% of decks · synergy 0.29

Super Shredder wants bodies to throw into combat and sacrifice effects, and Pawn of Ulamog converts every nontoken creature lost in the process into a Spawn that keeps the mana flowing for the next wave.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Commander is where Pawn of Ulamog does its real work — the format's longer games and sacrifice-centric archetypes give it room to generate sustained value that faster formats would never tolerate. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but sees no meaningful play; the mana and tempo requirements of those formats make a three-mana 2/2 with a conditional trigger a non-starter. Modern is the same story: Pawn of Ulamog is legal but outclassed by faster sacrifice payoffs with more immediate impact. Stick to Commander, and specifically to decks that are already running a sacrifice loop — that's the only context where it earns its slot.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.89 bulk tier

At $0.89, Pawn of Ulamog sits firmly in bulk territory, which is exactly right for a card with a narrow but reliable role in Commander sacrifice decks. The price is stable — it won't spike, but it also won't crater further, since demand from Yawgmoth and Teysa builds keeps a floor under it.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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