Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord
Legendary Planeswalker — Sorin
+1: Target creature you control gains deathtouch and lifelink until end of turn. If it's a Vampire, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
+1: You may sacrifice a Vampire. When you do, Sorin deals 3 damage to any target and you gain 3 life.
−3: You may put a Vampire creature card from your hand onto the battlefield.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Innistrad Remastered
- Price
- $3.12
- EDHREC rank
- #3941
Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord lets you cheat an arbitrarily large Vampire into play on turn three — no mana cost, no restrictions on what you put down. In Edgar Markov decks, that alone earns his slot.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | banned |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord is banned in Pioneer, where the combination of a three-mana planeswalker that immediately threatens a free Vampire proved too consistent in aggressive shells. Every other format where he's legal lets him through, and in Commander the Pioneer concern barely applies — the 100-card singleton constraint and four-player politics dilute the speed that made him problematic at 60 cards.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Edgar Markov
Edgar Markov already floods the board with Vampire tokens off the command zone, and Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord's minus-three turns any high-cost Vampire in hand into an immediate threat without spending extra mana — the two work in the same direction from turn one.
Olivia Voldaren
Olivia Voldaren wants powerful individual Vampires on board to pressure opponents, and Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord accelerates that curve by dropping a top-end threat several turns ahead of schedule.
Strefan, Maurer Progenitor
Strefan, Maurer Progenitor cares about getting big Vampires into play to swing with him, and Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord's cheat ability skips straight to that payoff without requiring the blood token ramp to fully come online.
Clavileño, First of the Blessed
Clavileño, First of the Blessed rewards having non-token Vampires dying and attacking, and Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord puts a non-token Vampire into play immediately — feeding Clavileño's draw and reanimation triggers ahead of the natural curve.
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose kills tables with enough life gain, and Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord's plus-one drains an opponent for one while gaining you life — every activation inches toward lethal before Vito even untaps.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$3.12 cheap tier
At $3.12, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord sits at the cheap end of constructed-playable planeswalkers, and his Pioneer ban history means demand is stable rather than climbing. That price is unlikely to erode further given his inclusion rate across Vampire commanders.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Edgar Markov
- Olivia Voldaren
- Strefan, Maurer Progenitor
- Clavileño, First of the Blessed
- Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.