Road // Ruin
Instant // Sorcery
Search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- GR
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Modern Horizons 2
- Price
- $0.16
- EDHREC rank
- #11156
Road // Ruin is a split card that gives you a two-mana cantrip sorcery on one side and a four-mana direct damage spell on the other — two playable halves on one card, which is exactly the kind of density that Haldan, Avid Arcanist // Pako, Arcane Retriever wants when it's casting spells off the top of opponents' libraries. The cost is flexibility: neither half is format-warping on its own, so you're running it for value accumulation rather than a single dominant effect.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Haldan, Avid Arcanist // Pako, Arcane Retriever
Pako exiles cards from opponents' libraries and Haldan casts them, which means every hit is better when the exiled card pulls double duty — Road // Ruin gives Haldan two usable modes regardless of the game state, making it a reliable payoff whenever Pako connects.
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 |
Road // Ruin is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it sees essentially no play outside Commander. In Legacy and Vintage, both halves are dramatically outclassed — the cantrip side competes with Brainstorm and Ponder, and four mana for direct damage at sorcery speed doesn't register. Modern has similarly moved past this power level. Commander is the format where split cards with two playable halves earn their slot, and Road // Ruin fits narrowly in decks that care about casting spells from exile — primarily Haldan, Avid Arcanist // Pako, Arcane Retriever shells — where the two-for-one nature matters more than either half's raw strength.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.16 bulk tier
At $0.16, Road // Ruin is bulk — you're paying almost nothing for it, and that price is stable because demand is narrow and supply is deep. It holds that value tier without risk of spiking; pick it up if you need it, but don't expect it to move.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Haldan, Avid Arcanist // Pako, Arcane Retriever
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.