Pillar Tombs of Aku
World Enchantment
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player may sacrifice a creature of their choice. If that player doesn't, they lose 5 life and you sacrifice this enchantment.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Visions
- Price
- $1.03
- EDHREC rank
- #28802
Pillar Tombs of Aku makes every opponent sacrifice a creature at the start of each of their upkeeps — repeated, unconditional attrition that doesn't cost you a card each turn. The setup cost is steep: you're paying five mana for an enchantment with no immediate effect, so it earns its slot only in decks that can stabilize long enough to collect on that investment.
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 |
Pillar Tombs of Aku is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but in practice it only makes sense in Commander. Legacy and Vintage move too fast for a five-mana enchantment that does nothing the turn it enters — those formats demand impact on resolution. In Commander, the multiplayer math flips the math in its favor: three opponents each losing a creature every turn means the card pulls serious weight over a long game, and attrition enchantments that don't require action each turn are genuinely hard for some tables to answer.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.03 cheap tier
At $1.03, Pillar Tombs of Aku sits in the cheap tier — low enough to slot in without second-guessing the budget. It's a narrow card with a small demand ceiling, so don't expect the price to move meaningfully in either direction.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.