Smallpox
Sorcery
Each player loses 1 life, discards a card, sacrifices a creature of their choice, then sacrifices a land of their choice.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Time Spiral Remastered
- Price
- $0.33
- EDHREC rank
- #5589
Smallpox hits every resource axis at once — each opponent sacrifices a creature, discards a card, loses a life, and sacrifices a land — all for two mana. The catch is symmetry: you absorb the same pain, so it only belongs in decks built to profit from opponents losing permanents, with Tergrid, God of Fright being the clearest example of a commander that turns every sacrifice clause into a one-sided loot.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Tergrid, God of Fright
Tergrid, God of Fright converts every sacrifice Smallpox demands into stolen permanents — opponents sac a creature and a land, Tergrid puts both onto your battlefield, making a symmetrical spell functionally one-sided.
Tinybones, Trinket Thief
Tinybones, Trinket Thief rewards each discard with card draw and mana, so Smallpox's forced discard clause becomes immediate card advantage while the rest of the effect strips away the board.
Tinybones, Bauble Burglar
Tinybones, Bauble Burglar cares about opponents discarding cards and exiling them for value, and Smallpox reliably triggers that engine on turn two before most players have stabilized.
The Balrog, Durin's Bane
The Balrog, Durin's Bane grows and gains abilities from sacrificed creatures, so Smallpox filling the graveyard with opponent creatures doubles as a power boost for the commander.
Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest stacks a +1/+1 counter on every creature you control each time any player sacrifices a permanent, and Smallpox forces two sacrifices per opponent in a single cast.
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 |
In Legacy, Smallpox is a known quantity in land-destruction and discard shells — the symmetry is managed with Flagstones of Trokair or Crucible of Worlds, and the two-mana price is right for disrupting tempo decks. Modern legal but rarely played, since the format's threats are too fast and resilient for a symmetrical four-pronged effect to reliably break parity. Commander is where Smallpox earns its keep: the one-versus-many math flips the symmetry in your favor, each opponent absorbs the full penalty, and commanders like Tergrid, God of Fright convert the sacrifice clauses into outright theft.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.33 bulk tier
At $0.33, Smallpox is deep bulk — easy to pick up in any trade binder or as a throw-in. It has enough niche Commander demand to keep it from hitting true zero, but don't expect the price to move meaningfully unless a breakout Tergrid-style commander pushes it into the spotlight.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Tergrid, God of Fright
- Tinybones, Trinket Thief
- Tinybones, Bauble Burglar
- The Balrog, Durin's Bane
- Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.