Sorin, Grim Nemesis
Legendary Planeswalker — Sorin
+1: Reveal the top card of your library and put that card into your hand. Each opponent loses life equal to its mana value.
−X: Sorin deals X damage to target creature or planeswalker and you gain X life.
−9: Create a number of 1/1 black Vampire Knight creature tokens with lifelink equal to the highest life total among all players.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BW
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Shadows over Innistrad
- Price
- $2.83
- EDHREC rank
- #9142
Sorin, Grim Nemesis enters the battlefield and immediately draws you a card while draining the table — that kind of on-board value at six mana is real, even if the cost is steep for most powered metas. Sorin of House Markov decks run him as a life-swing closer, and that's the right home: he rewards a life-total-matters shell and punishes anyone who ignores him.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Sorin of House Markov
Sorin of House Markov leans into life drain and vampire tribal synergies where Sorin, Grim Nemesis's plus ability turns every card flip into a recursive drain effect — stack enough activations and the life differential closes games faster than combat math suggests.
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 |
In Commander, Sorin, Grim Nemesis is a role-player in life-matters and vampire tribal builds — six mana is a lot to ask, but the passive drain on his plus ability scales with a 40-life format and four opponents in ways it simply doesn't in 1v1. In Pioneer and Modern he's too slow and too passive to see competitive play; planeswalkers at six mana need to win the game on the spot, and he doesn't. Legacy and Vintage have better options at every point on the curve, so he won't show up there outside of casual lists. Oathbreaker is arguably his best non-Commander home, where he can serve as the signature spell anchor for a life-drain strategy at a lower starting life total.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$2.83 cheap tier
At $2.83, Sorin, Grim Nemesis sits comfortably in the cheap tier — easy to slot into any vampire or life-matters build without a second thought. Demand is narrow enough that the price is unlikely to spike, making him a stable budget pickup rather than a spec target.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Sorin of House Markov
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.