Phyrexian Soulgorger
Snow Artifact Creature — Phyrexian Construct
Cumulative upkeep—Sacrifice a creature. (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $7.97
- EDHREC rank
- #5869
Phyrexian Soulgorger is an 8/8 trampler for three mana — the stats are absurd, and the cumulative upkeep cost in creatures is the entire conversation. Commanders like Alena, Kessig Trapper and Abigale, Eloquent First-Year turn that sacrifice clause from a liability into an engine, but in the wrong shell it eats your board and leaves you empty-handed.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Abigale, Eloquent First-Year
Abigale, Eloquent First-Year is the single best home for Phyrexian Soulgorger: Abigale triggers on creatures dying, so every cumulative upkeep payment is a resource rather than a loss.
The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride
The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride wants a large body to saddle and churn through, and Phyrexian Soulgorger's massive power makes it an ideal mount that can also feed the graveyard value engine when it outlives its usefulness.
Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
Selvala, Heart of the Wilds taps for a burst of mana equal to the greatest power on the battlefield, and Phyrexian Soulgorger's 8 power immediately sets the ceiling — making it one of the most efficient Selvala activations in the format.
Xu-Ifit, Osteoharmonist
Xu-Ifit, Osteoharmonist cares about sacrificing creatures and generating value from bone counters, so the mandatory sacrifice schedule of Phyrexian Soulgorger plugs directly into that engine rather than working against it.
Jon Irenicus, Shattered One
Jon Irenicus, Shattered One gifts creatures to opponents, and donating Phyrexian Soulgorger saddles your opponent with a cumulative upkeep that will devour their board while you reap the Irenicus triggers.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Phyrexian Soulgorger actually lives — the multiplayer environment gives you the time and the creature density to manage cumulative upkeep, and the synergy commanders that reward sacrifice make the clause a feature. In Legacy and Vintage, a three-mana 8/8 is theoretically powerful enough to see play, but those formats move too fast for a card that asks you to keep feeding it creatures, and there are cleaner ways to deploy that much pressure on turns one and two. Modern has similar speed concerns; Phyrexian Soulgorger is technically legal but sees virtually no competitive play there. Oathbreaker is a reasonable secondary home for the same reasons as Commander — sacrifice synergies are plentiful and games go long enough to extract value.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Alena, Kessig TrapperSword of the ParunsPhyrexian Soulgorger
Infinite untap of creatures you control; Infinite mana creatures you control can produce; Infinite red mana
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
If the sacrifice cost is the draw rather than the stat line, Blight Mound and similar token-generating sac outlets fill a comparable role at a fraction of the price, though they sacrifice impact rather than demanding it. For raw power-to-mana-cost ratio in green, Lupine Prototype and Phyrexian Dreadnought exist in the same design space — Phyrexian Soulgorger is generally the most playable of the bunch in Commander because cumulative upkeep is easier to manage than the alternatives' one-time costs, but those cards are worth knowing if budget is the constraint.
Price Context
Current price
$7.97 mid tier
At $7.97, Phyrexian Soulgorger sits in the mid tier — expensive enough to be a deliberate inclusion, cheap enough that it's not a barrier for most budgets. The price reflects genuine Commander demand from sacrifice and big-power synergy decks, and that demand is stable enough that the value is unlikely to erode.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.