River of Tears
Land
: Add 
. If you played a land this turn, add 
instead.
- CMC
- 0
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Doctor Who
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #2521
River of Tears enters untapped if you played a land this turn, otherwise it comes in tapped — meaning it rewards you for hitting your land drop before playing it, which is the natural sequence anyway. In Dimir shells, it's a free dual that costs nothing beyond sequencing correctly, and Mirko, Obsessive Theorist decks in particular snap it up at over 45% inclusion because clean blue-black mana with minimal downside is exactly what that engine demands.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Mirko, Obsessive Theorist
Mirko, Obsessive Theorist wants a land base that never stumbles, and River of Tears delivers untapped blue-black mana on command as long as you sequence your land drop before casting it — which is trivial in a deck that wants to hold up mana for the mill trigger on each opponent's upkeep.
Davros, Dalek Creator
Davros, Dalek Creator runs a tight blue-black-red shell where wasting a turn to a tapped land can mean falling behind on the card-draw engine, and River of Tears slots in as the kind of cheap, reliable dual that keeps the early curve moving without asking for anything back.
Captain N'ghathrod
Captain N'ghathrod mills opponents and steals their spells, a game plan that lives and dies on smooth mana — River of Tears provides untapped blue or black whenever needed, and over a third of N'ghathrod decks include it precisely because the color requirements are both demanding and non-negotiable.
Francisco, Fowl Marauder // Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator
Francisco, Fowl Marauder // Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator is a tempo-oriented pirates build that wants to play threats and interaction on curve without color-screw hiccups, and River of Tears is exactly the kind of land that makes turn-one blue and turn-two black feel effortless.
Urza, Chief Artificer
Urza, Chief Artificer is a blue-black-white commander, but the artifact package leans heavily on blue and black early, and River of Tears fills that role cleanly — nearly 20% of Urza decks include it as a no-frills dual that never asks you to sacrifice tempo.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, River of Tears is a budget-friendly Dimir dual that earns its slot cleanly — untapped more often than not in any deck that plays its lands before casting spells, which covers most games. In Legacy, it competes with a much deeper pool of true duals and fetches, so it rarely sees play outside of budget builds or specific Dimir shells that need the fourth or fifth copy of this effect. Modern is technically legal but again the land sees minimal competitive play there, squeezed out by fetches and shocklands that offer more flexibility. For Commander specifically, if you're in blue-black and looking for inexpensive ways to upgrade the mana base past guildgates and taplands, River of Tears is a direct upgrade that asks almost nothing in return.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data isn't available in the current feed for River of Tears, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the live number before buying. Historically it's sat in the budget-to-mid range for a non-fetch Dimir dual, making it one of the more accessible land upgrades for the color pair.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Mirko, Obsessive Theorist
- Davros, Dalek Creator
- Captain N'ghathrod
- Francisco, Fowl Marauder // Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator
- Urza, Chief Artificer
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.