Rain of Daggers
Sorcery
Destroy all creatures target opponent controls. You lose 2 life for each creature destroyed this way.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Portal Second Age
- Price
- $5.59
- EDHREC rank
- #23925
Rain of Daggers wipes every creature your opponents control — all of them, not just a subset — and costs you life equal to the number destroyed. The life payment is the entire deck-building constraint: this card belongs in decks that can absorb or exploit that drain, and everywhere else it's a liability you don't need.
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 |
Rain of Daggers is a Commander card through and through — the format's multiplayer board states, inflated life totals, and life-gain synergy commanders give it the context it needs to function. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but irrelevant: five mana for a sorcery-speed wipe that drains you competes against Toxic Deluge and Damnation in formats where efficiency is everything, and it loses that competition badly. Commander is the only home where the unconditional "all creatures" clause justifies the cost, because opponents regularly develop threats that dodge cheaper wraths, and a 40-life starting total softens the drain enough to be workable.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Toxic Deluge is the natural comparison — it's more mana-efficient, scales to the board, and runs about the same price, though it can miss indestructible creatures where Rain of Daggers does not. If the life payment is the problem rather than the budget, Damnation handles the unconditional wipe at the same mana cost without draining you, and In Garruk's Wake hits the same "all opponents' creatures" ceiling for two more mana with no life loss at all.
Price Context
Current price
$5.59 mid tier
At $5.59, Rain of Daggers sits in the mid tier — not a throwaway include, but not a budget barrier either. It holds that price on collector curiosity and niche Commander demand rather than widespread play, so it's a stable buy if the effect fits your deck and not an obvious pickup otherwise.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.