Plumb the Forbidden
Instant
As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may sacrifice one or more creatures. When you do, copy this spell for each creature sacrificed this way.
You draw a card and lose 1 life.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Bloomburrow Commander
- Price
- $1.05
- EDHREC rank
- #1176
Plumb the Forbidden converts any number of sacrificed creatures into an equal number of cards at instant speed — the flexibility to copy it with Hazel of the Rootbloom or stack multiple copies in response to removal makes it one of the most efficient draw spells in black. The life payment is real but almost never the limiting factor; token decks and sacrifice engines pay it without flinching.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Hazel of the Rootbloom
Hazel of the Rootbloom's copy-on-cast ability turns a single Plumb the Forbidden into two separate spells drawing off two separate sacrifice events — doubling the cards without doubling the mana, which is why it appears in over half of all Hazel lists.
Dina, Essence Brewer
Dina, Essence Brewer drains opponents for every life you gain, so the life paid to Plumb the Forbidden becomes damage dealt while you're also refilling your hand — the card draws and fuels the win condition simultaneously.
Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder floods the board with Thrull tokens that need an outlet before they trigger Endrek's self-sacrifice clause, and Plumb the Forbidden lets you convert that token surplus into cards before the count resets.
Beledros Witherbloom
Beledros Witherbloom generates life and creature tokens in tandem, giving Plumb the Forbidden both the fodder to sacrifice and the life buffer to pay for it without breaking the engine.
Extus, Oriq Overlord
Extus, Oriq Overlord rewards casting spells from the graveyard via Awaken the Blood Avatar, and Plumb the Forbidden as an instant slips neatly into the sacrifice-heavy spell chains that both halves of the card want to enable.
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 Plumb the Forbidden earns its reputation — three or more opponents mean larger boards, more tokens, and more creatures to sacrifice, turning what might be a two-card draw in a duel into a five- or six-card refill at instant speed. In Legacy and Vintage, it competes with a deeper pool of one-mana draw spells and sees only fringe play in dedicated sacrifice shells where the creature count is high enough to justify the mana. Modern and Pioneer treat it similarly: it shows up in aristocrats strategies that can guarantee multiple sacrifice triggers, but it's not a format staple. Plumb the Forbidden's power is directly proportional to how many creatures a deck can sacrifice in a single moment, which Commander enables more reliably than any other format.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.05 cheap tier
At $1.05, Plumb the Forbidden sits in the range where there's no reason to cut it for budget — it's priced like a bulk rare but performs like a staple. Demand from Golgari and Orzhov Commander decks keeps a floor under it, so don't expect this to drop further.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.