Scarscale Ritual
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast this spell, put a -1/-1 counter on a creature you control.
Draw two cards.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Shadowmoor
- Price
- $0.14
- EDHREC rank
- #23465
Scarscale Ritual draws two cards for two mana — the catch is that every creature you control gets a -1/-1 counter, which is either a negligible tax or a serious liability depending on your board. Run it when your creatures are built to receive counters; skip it when your board is a pile of x/1s.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Scarscale Ritual earns a slot specifically in -1/-1 counter decks — Hapatra, Yawgmoth, and Skullbriar builds where the downside is a feature — and nowhere else. In Legacy and Vintage it's too slow and situational to compete with Brainstorm and Ponder; the counter clause is pure liability on a tempo-oriented board. Pauper is the most interesting non-Commander home: two-mana draw-two is a real rate at common, and persist strategies exist at the lower end of the format, though Scarscale Ritual still sits on the fringe rather than any established shell. Oathbreaker mirrors the Commander read — the right planeswalker-commander pairing (Vraska, anything that cares about -1/-1 counters) makes it viable; everything else should look elsewhere.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.14 bulk tier
At $0.14, Scarscale Ritual is deep bulk — you'll find it in a common box or a $1 sleeve of chaff at any LGS. The price is stable at the floor; there's no meaningful demand spike coming unless a pushed -1/-1 counter commander hits a future set.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.