Sandman's Quicksand
Sorcery
Mayhem 
(You may cast this card from your graveyard for if you discarded it this turn. Timing rules still apply.)
All creatures get -2/-2 until end of turn. If this spell's mayhem cost was paid, creatures your opponents control get -2/-2 until end of turn instead.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Through the Omenpaths
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #15516
Sandman's Quicksand locks down attackers or blockers on the board, and Norman Osborn's ability to leverage that kind of persistent tap-down threat makes it a natural fit in his lists. The cost is real — a land slot dedicated to a tap effect competes with utility lands that generate mana — but the on-board control it provides is worth the trade in the right shell.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Norman Osborn
Norman Osborn rewards repeated tapping and untapping synergies, and Sandman's Quicksand slots directly into that engine by keeping key threats neutralized while you build your board state.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Sandman's Quicksand earns its slot in tap-matters and stax-adjacent strategies, where locking down a single threat each turn can meaningfully disrupt opponents over multiple rotations of the table. In one-on-one formats like Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer, a land that taps for no mana and only affects one creature per turn is too slow against the pace of those formats — you'd almost never register it in a competitive 60-card list. Standard and Oathbreaker follow the same logic: the effect is fine, but the opportunity cost of a do-nothing land is steep outside of Commander's multiplayer environment where incremental control compounds over many turns.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Current pricing data for Sandman's Quicksand isn't available at this time — check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the most up-to-date figures. Given the card's niche Commander role, it typically occupies the low end of the price range for utility lands.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Norman Osborn
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.