Shadow of Mortality
Creature — Avatar
If your life total is less than your starting life total, this spell costs 
less to cast, where X is the difference.
- CMC
- 15
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Magic Online Promos
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #4383
Shadow of Mortality enters with a counter for each life you're missing, then grows larger every time you pay life — making it a threat that scales directly with how recklessly you spend your life total. In Commander, where Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow already punishes opponents with ninjutsu triggers and top-deck damage, Shadow of Mortality turns that life-loss engine into a creature that closes games on its own.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow decks pay life constantly through ninjutsu and top-deck reveals, and Shadow of Mortality converts every point of that self-inflicted damage into raw stats — a finisher that grows passively while the ninja engine does its normal work.
Sakashima of a Thousand Faces // Vial Smasher the Fierce
Sakashima of a Thousand Faces // Vial Smasher the Fierce pairs with Shadow of Mortality because Vial Smasher's random life-loss triggers compound quickly, and Sakashima can copy the Shadow itself to double the counters accumulating on each end step.
The Ancient One
The Ancient One wants creatures with high power and rewards you for running instants and sorceries that cost life or manipulate the stack, so Shadow of Mortality slides in as a growing threat that benefits every time the deck does what it already wants to do.
Eddie Brock
Eddie Brock's symbiote theme leans heavily on paying life and putting +1/+1 counters on creatures, and Shadow of Mortality fits the gameplan precisely — each life payment feeds the counter engine that Eddie Brock is already optimizing for.
The Lord of Pain
The Lord of Pain deals damage to everyone whenever a player pays life, so running Shadow of Mortality creates a feedback loop: the Shadow grows while The Lord of Pain pings the table, rewarding both the aggressive life-payment gameplan and the political damage accumulation.
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 |
Shadow of Mortality is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but the payoff is narrowest outside Commander — in competitive formats, a 1/1 for two mana that needs life-loss infrastructure to matter is too slow and conditional against efficient threats. Commander is where Shadow of Mortality genuinely earns its slot: games go long, life totals swing dramatically, and decks built around paying life (Yuriko, pain lands, Phyrexian mana effects) regularly set up a Shadow that enters as a 10/10 or larger by the mid-game. Oathbreaker can support it in the right shell, but the 20-life starting total compresses the window. Modern and Pioneer have the infrastructure in theory, but the format speed punishes a two-mana creature that needs setup before it's dangerous.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Current pricing data for Shadow of Mortality isn't available in our system — check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the live market price before buying. Given its niche but dedicated home in Yuriko lists, demand is real but concentrated, so price tends to reflect Commander supply-and-demand patterns rather than competitive format pressure.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
- Sakashima of a Thousand Faces // Vial Smasher the Fierce
- The Ancient One
- Eddie Brock
- The Lord of Pain
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.