Shriveling Rot
Instant
Choose one —
• Until end of turn, whenever a creature is dealt damage, destroy it.
• Until end of turn, whenever a creature dies, that creature's controller loses life equal to its toughness.
Entwine 
(Choose both if you pay the entwine cost.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Darksteel
- Price
- $0.43
- EDHREC rank
- #21057
Shriveling Rot turns every point of damage dealt to any creature into a -1/-1 counter on that creature until end of turn — effectively doubling the lethality of anything that pings, fights, or blocks for a single turn cycle. Two black mana for an instant is the honest price, and the payoff is real when your board is built around damage-based removal or mass pinging.
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 |
Commander is where Shriveling Rot finds its clearest home, slotting into decks that spread small amounts of damage across many creatures — Pestilence effects, Pyrohemia loops, or commanders like Rakdos, Lord of Riots that want bodies cleared cheaply. The instant speed matters: you can hold it up and only spend the mana when damage is already happening, which means it acts as a force multiplier on your own spells rather than a standalone card. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but never sees play — the formats move too fast for a conditional combat trick with no immediate board presence. Modern is the same story: two mana for a situational pump on removal is outclassed by direct interaction.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.43 bulk tier
At $0.43, Shriveling Rot sits firmly in bulk territory, which is accurate — demand is low and the card sees fringe play at best. It holds that floor price indefinitely; there's no broad appeal to push it higher unless a dedicated damage-counter commander becomes a breakout hit.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.