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Smothering Abomination

Creature — Eldrazi

Devoid (This card has no color.)
Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a creature.
Whenever you sacrifice a creature, draw a card.

CMC
4
Mana cost
{2}{B}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
rare
Set
Battle for Zendikar
Price
$0.76
EDHREC rank
#3686
Buy on TCGplayer
Smothering Abomination card art
Smothering Abomination turns every sacrifice into a card — a draw engine that runs on the same currency your deck is already spending. The mandatory upkeep sacrifice is a real cost, and it kills the card in decks that can't reliably feed it; in a shell like Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder or Nadir Kraken that generates tokens on autopilot, that downside evaporates entirely.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder

Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder

73.5% of decks · synergy 0.72

Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder produces a flood of Thrull tokens as a direct consequence of casting creatures, and Smothering Abomination converts every one of those sacrifices into a card — the two cards are doing the same job from opposite ends of the engine.

02
Dina, Essence Brewer

Dina, Essence Brewer

39.1% of decks · synergy 0.37

Dina, Essence Brewer cares about life loss, and Smothering Abomination gives the deck a free draw trigger each time a creature goes to the graveyard — keeping cards flowing through the sacrifice loops that make Dina's drain effects tick.

03
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher

Prossh, Skyraider of Kher

27.8% of decks · synergy 0.26

Prossh, Skyraider of Kher enters the battlefield with a pile of Kobolds and wants to sacrifice them for damage, so Smothering Abomination slots in as the draw engine that refills your hand every time you fuel Prossh's payoff.

04
Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest

Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest

26.6% of decks · synergy 0.24

Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest stacks counters on every creature you control whenever anything is sacrificed, meaning each draw trigger from Smothering Abomination comes stapled to a board-wide pump — the two cards compound each other's power directly.

05
Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker

Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker

18.3% of decks · synergy 0.16

Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker returns low-power creatures from the graveyard at end of turn, creating a loop of repeated sacrifice fodder that keeps Smothering Abomination drawing cards turn after turn without depleting resources.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Smothering Abomination is a Commander card through and through — the format's longer games and creature-heavy sacrifice synergies are exactly where a four-mana draw engine earns its slot. In competitive non-rotating formats like Legacy and Vintage, four mana for a fragile creature that draws one card per turn is far too slow and too easy to answer, and dedicated sacrifice decks in those formats have cheaper, more resilient options. Modern and Pioneer are similarly hostile: the card dies to nearly every common removal spell before you recoup the investment, and the mandatory upkeep sacrifice can become a liability against disruptive opponents. Oathbreaker mirrors the Commander dynamic closely enough that the card is worth considering in any sacrifice-focused build there.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

172 decks
Nadir KrakenSmothering AbominationAshnod's Altar

Nadir KrakenSmothering AbominationAshnod's Altar

Infinite card draw; Infinite draw triggers; Near-infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature; Near-infinite colorless mana; Near-infinite death triggers; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite sacrifice triggers

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$0.76 bulk tier

At $0.76, Smothering Abomination is firmly bulk — this is a card you pick up without hesitation if your commander wants it. Given the card's consistent demand across sacrifice commanders and the lack of a strict functional reprint at the same price point, bulk is where it lives and there's no reason to wait on the purchase.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

← All cards

Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.