Sleep of the Dead
Sorcery
Tap target creature. It doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
Escape—
, Exile three other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its escape cost.)
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Theros Beyond Death
- Price
- $0.20
- EDHREC rank
- #20913
Sleep of the Dead taps a creature and keeps it tapped until its controller's next untap step — removing it from combat or an activated ability for a full turn cycle at instant speed for a single blue mana. It's a cheap, clean tempo play, but the single-use nature and narrow effect mean it earns a slot only in decks that specifically reward repeated tapping or can loop it.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Sleep of the Dead is a niche pick — it buys you a turn against a threat but doesn't answer it permanently, which is a hard sell in a four-player format where threats multiply fast. The decks that actually want it are tap-matters builds or those that can recur instants cheaply, turning a one-shot stall into a repeatable engine. In Pauper, where the commons card pool rewards efficient tempo plays and blue-based control is a real archetype, it has slightly more relevance. Legacy, Vintage, and Pioneer are too fast and too threat-dense for a one-mana do-nothing-permanently effect to compete.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.20 bulk tier
At $0.20, Sleep of the Dead is firmly bulk — easy to pick up without a second thought if it fits your gameplan. Bulk commons like this don't tend to move in price unless a specific combo or archetype pushes demand, so don't expect it to appreciate.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.