Plaguecrafter
Creature — Human Shaman
When this creature enters, each player sacrifices a creature or planeswalker of their choice. Each player who can't discards a card.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Jumpstart 2022
- Price
- $1.07
- EDHREC rank
- #615
Plaguecrafter hits every opponent at once — each player sacrifices a creature or planeswalker, or discards a card — and it does it on a three-mana body that dies willingly. The cost is that you sacrifice a creature too, which is a feature rather than a bug in graveyard decks like Araumi of the Dead Tide.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Araumi of the Dead Tide
Araumi of the Dead Tide encodes Plaguecrafter and makes three copies via encore, meaning three separate triggered sacrifice-or-discard events hit the table before anyone can respond — that's a full hand strip or a board clear for three mana plus one blue.
Malik, Grim Manipulator
Malik, Grim Manipulator's ability punishes opponents for losing creatures, so Plaguecrafter forcing a sacrifice across the table translates directly into Malik stealing permanents from every player who complied.
Meren of Clan Nel Toth
Meren of Clan Nel Toth wants creatures dying on a schedule, and Plaguecrafter delivers both a self-sac trigger and an opponent disruption effect that Meren can replay from the graveyard once experience counters accumulate.
Squall, SeeD Mercenary
Squall, SeeD Mercenary generates value whenever creatures die, so Plaguecrafter's enter-the-battlefield trigger kills your own creature and potentially multiple opponents' creatures simultaneously, stacking Squall's payoffs in a single cast.
Tergrid, God of Fright
Tergrid, God of Fright converts every opponent's sacrifice or discard into a permanent landing under your control, making Plaguecrafter one of the most efficient ways to feed Tergrid's ability at instant-speed-adjacent timing on your own turn.
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 Plaguecrafter earns its reputation — hitting all opponents simultaneously turns a fair-seeming edict into a three-for-one that scales with table size. In Modern and Pioneer, edict effects compete with cheaper and more flexible point removal, so Plaguecrafter mostly stays on the shelf in those formats. Legacy has faster threats and more ways to dodge sacrifice effects entirely, pushing it out of competitive consideration there too. Oathbreaker is a strong home for the same reason as Commander: the multi-opponent edict is disproportionately powerful in any multiplayer environment.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.07 cheap tier
At $1.07, Plaguecrafter sits at the bottom of the cheap tier and represents straightforward value for a card that shows up in tens of thousands of Commander decks. Demand is broad and steady across sacrifice and discard archetypes, so the floor is unlikely to drop further.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Araumi of the Dead Tide
- Malik, Grim Manipulator
- Meren of Clan Nel Toth
- Squall, SeeD Mercenary
- Tergrid, God of Fright
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.