Sol'Kanar the Tainted
Legendary Creature — Elemental Demon
At the beginning of your end step, choose one that hasn't been chosen —
• Draw a card.
• Each opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
• Sol'Kanar deals 3 damage to up to one other target creature or planeswalker.
• Exile Sol'Kanar, then return it to the battlefield under an opponent's control.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BRU
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Dominaria United Promos
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #20105
Sol'Kanar the Tainted is a five-mana Grixis threat that drains life and grows every time you cast a black spell, making it a self-contained win condition in any shell that already wants to chain dark spells. The cost is the color requirement: three colors including double black means your mana base has to do real work to support 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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is the natural home for Sol'Kanar the Tainted — a 99-card black-heavy shell gives it a steady stream of triggers, and the life drain adds up fast over a long multiplayer game. In Legacy and Vintage the competition at five mana is brutal and Sol'Kanar the Tainted offers no immediate board impact the turn it enters, making it too slow for those formats outside of casual tables. Modern and Pioneer have the same problem: five-mana creatures need to end the game on contact, and incremental life drain doesn't clear that bar in a format that moves quickly. Oathbreaker can work if you're building around a black planeswalker and want a supporting threat, but the five-mana slot is contested there too.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Sol'Kanar the Tainted isn't available in the current index, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the live market rate before buying. Given its niche appeal as a Grixis Commander threat rather than a multi-format staple, it typically sits in an accessible range — worth picking up if you're building the deck, but not a card to speculate on.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.