Skullmead Cauldron
Artifact
: You gain 1 life., Discard a card: You gain 3 life.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Dissension
- Price
- $0.18
- EDHREC rank
- #24632
Skullmead Cauldron turns life payment into card flow — every time you lose life, you can pay one mana to draw a card, which in black-heavy life-drain or Phyrexian-mana shells adds up fast. The setup cost is three mana for a vanilla artifact, so it only earns its slot when you're consistently losing multiple life per turn.
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 the natural home for Skullmead Cauldron — the format's life-loss synergy commanders (Zurzoth, Chaos Rider aside, think Rakdos, the Showstopper or K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth) can trigger it repeatedly in a single turn cycle, and the slower pace gives you time to recoup the mana investment. In Legacy and Vintage, the competition is brutal: Necropotence and Dark Confidant do more for less, and a three-mana artifact that requires additional mana per draw never makes the cut. Oathbreaker sits closer to Commander in density and pace, so the same life-loss builds that want it there will consider it here too.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.18 bulk tier
At $0.18, Skullmead Cauldron is deep bulk — you're not paying a premium for anything. Bulk artifacts with narrow conditions rarely climb, so treat this as a cheap pickup for the right deck rather than a card with upside sitting in a binder.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.