Poison the Blade
Instant
Target creature gains deathtouch until end of turn.
Draw a card.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate
- Price
- $0.20
- EDHREC rank
- #10398
Poison the Blade puts a poison counter on every creature you control — permanently, at instant speed — and The Howling Abomination turns that into a mass -1/-1 pump for your whole board the moment any opponent loses life. The cost is a one-mana sorcery-speed setup, but the payoff in infect or wither strategies is immediate and board-wide.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
The Howling Abomination
The Howling Abomination's triggered ability fires whenever an opponent loses life, shrinking every creature with a -1/-1 counter — and Poison the Blade stamps your entire board at once, so every subsequent trigger hits everything you control simultaneously.
Legolas, Master Archer
Legolas, Master Archer pings creatures as a tap ability, and Poison the Blade converts those pings into -1/-1 counter placements the moment any poisoned creature deals damage, letting Legolas pick apart opposing boards one activation at a time.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Poison the Blade actually matters — infect and wither synergies have enough support there to build around it, and The Howling Abomination's rising popularity has pulled inclusion rates above 50%. In Pauper it's legal but fringe; infect strategies exist, but a one-mana sorcery that only affects your own creatures doesn't slot cleanly into the aggressive linear shells that dominate that format. Legacy and Vintage have it legal in principle, but neither format gives you a reason to run a narrow counter-placement effect when faster and more reliable poison vectors exist.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.20 bulk tier
At $0.20, Poison the Blade is bulk — pick up as many copies as you need without thinking about it. Bulk rares tied to a single niche commander don't typically climb unless that commander becomes a format pillar, so don't expect the price to move.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.