Skullcage
Artifact
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, this artifact deals 2 damage to that player unless they have exactly three or exactly four cards in hand.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Fifth Dawn
- Price
- $0.33
- EDHREC rank
- #17025
Skullcage drains opponents for 2 life each upkeep if they're holding fewer than three or more than six cards — punishing both empty hands and overstuffed ones. At four mana for a do-nothing artifact, the effect is too narrow and too slow to justify the slot in most lists.
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 |
Skullcage is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it's only worth discussing in Commander — and even there, narrowly. In Legacy and Vintage, four mana for a conditional life drain isn't close to competitive; those formats end before Skullcage matters. In Modern the card is legal but irrelevant. Commander is its natural home because games run long enough for the upkeep triggers to stack, and dedicated discard or hand-manipulation strategies can reliably keep opponents in the punishable range — but outside that niche, Skullcage sits in bulk boxes for good reason.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.33 bulk tier
At $0.33, Skullcage is deep bulk — you'll find it in a dollar bin before you find it on a buylist. It holds no financial value, and given how seldom it sees play, that's unlikely to change.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.