Shriek of Dread
Instant
Target creature gains fear until end of turn. (It can't be blocked except by artifact creatures and/or black creatures.)
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Planeshift
- Price
- $0.13
- EDHREC rank
- #28806
Shriek of Dread lets you swing with a creature through any single blocker by giving it fear until end of turn — one black mana for unblockability against most boards. It's a narrow combat trick that only earns its slot when you need a specific creature to connect, and even then, better options exist at this cost.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Shriek of Dread is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but it sees essentially no play in any of them. In Commander, fear-based evasion is too conditional — artifact creatures and black creatures aren't blocked by it, which matters less when opponents are running three-color goodstuff piles full of non-black, non-artifact blockers, but the single-turn window and sorcery-like timing make it hard to justify over equipment or auras that provide permanent evasion. Pauper is the one format where one-mana combat tricks occasionally find a home, but fear has always been the weaker evasion keyword there compared to flying or trample payoffs.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.13 bulk tier
At $0.13, Shriek of Dread is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard, not power. Nothing about its demand profile suggests that changes, so treat it as a throw-in, not a pickup.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.