Pile On
Instant
Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for 
or one mana of that creature's color.)
Destroy target creature or planeswalker. Surveil 2. (Look at the top two cards of your library, then put any number of them into your graveyard and the rest on top of your library in any order.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- March of the Machine
- Price
- $0.37
- EDHREC rank
- #4553
Pile On kills any creature or planeswalker on the board — no toughness ceiling, no protection clause that saves it — and the convoke clause means your creature-heavy board can cast it for little to no mana. In Mirko, Obsessive Theorist specifically, it does double duty: removal spell on the stack and a self-mill trigger waiting to happen.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Mirko, Obsessive Theorist
Mirko, Obsessive Theorist mills four cards whenever you cast an instant or sorcery during your turn, so Pile On is both a clean answer to any threat and a free graveyard refuel — 74% of Mirko decks run it for exactly that two-for-one.
Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis
Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis wants creatures in the graveyard to convoke and delve Hogaak back out, and Pile On feeds the yard while keeping the board clear — the convoke cost means a stocked board pays most of the bill.
Gisa, the Hellraiser
Gisa, the Hellraiser cares about Zombies dying and entering the graveyard, so Pile On pulls weight as removal that can also get convoked out cheap once the token engine is running.
The Mycotyrant
The Mycotyrant scales off creature count, and Pile On's convoke lets a fungus-heavy board cast it nearly free while still threatening any blocker or walker that would otherwise slow the spread.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Pile On belongs — the singleton format's creature density makes convoke reliable, and instant-speed unconditional removal that hits planeswalkers is worth paying attention to at any cost. In Modern and Legacy it faces stiff competition from cheaper, cleaner options like Fatal Push and Swords to Plowshares, and the convoke clause is harder to trigger without a dedicated go-wide shell. Pioneer is legal but the same problem applies: four mana without a creature-heavy board is just a slow Doom Blade. Pile On is a Commander card first; in other formats it's a build-around niche role-player at best.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.37 bulk tier
At $0.37, Pile On is bulk — easy to pick up as a four-of or stock a cube without thinking twice. Bulk unconditional removal tends to stay cheap unless a format shift pushes it into competitive lists, so don't expect the price to move.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.