Slithering Shade
Creature — Shade
Defender (This creature can't attack.)
: This creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Hellbent — This creature can attack as though it didn't have defender as long as you have no cards in hand.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Dissension
- Price
- $0.06
- EDHREC rank
- #28036
Slithering Shade is a black creature that grows on your mana investment and hits for unblockable damage, but you're paying repeatedly just to make it relevant. The activation cost makes it a late-game mana sink at best, and there are cheaper, more consistent threats doing the same job.
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 |
Slithering Shade is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it sees essentially no competitive play in any of them. In Commander, it fits narrowest in black decks that generate large mana surpluses and want a repeatable unblockable damage outlet — think Cabal Coffers builds looking to dump excess black mana — but even there it competes poorly against permanents that threaten the whole table. In Legacy and Vintage, the card is simply outclassed by everything in those formats. Modern has enough efficient threats that Slithering Shade never makes the cut.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.06 bulk tier
At $0.06, Slithering Shade is deep bulk — you're not paying for power, you're paying for cardboard. There's no reason to expect that to change, so grab it from a bulk bin if you want it and don't give the price a second thought.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.