Remorseless Punishment
Sorcery
Target opponent loses 5 life unless that player discards two cards or sacrifices a creature or planeswalker of their choice. Repeat this process once.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $0.25
- EDHREC rank
- #21398
Remorseless Punishment forces one opponent to lose 5 life, discard two cards, or sacrifice two permanents — or split those losses however they choose, which is the problem. The opponent always takes the path of least resistance, so the effect rarely lines up with what you actually need to answer.
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 |
Remorseless Punishment lives almost entirely in Commander, where multiplayer politics and lifetotals bloated to 40 make targeted five-damage irrelevant and the discard clause redundant against anyone with an empty hand. Competitive formats ignore it — Modern and Legacy have cheaper, cleaner disruption that doesn't hand the opponent a menu. Pioneer is legal but unplayed for the same reason: five mana at sorcery speed for a modal effect the opponent controls is a losing proposition. In Commander it sees niche play in Rakdos punisher builds, where stacking lose-life choices across multiple spells creates real pressure, but it never becomes a staple even there.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.25 bulk tier
At $0.25, Remorseless Punishment is deep bulk — easy to acquire, easy to cut. The price reflects the card's narrow role accurately, and there's no reason to expect it to move.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.