Sorin Markov
Legendary Planeswalker — Sorin
+2: Sorin Markov deals 2 damage to any target and you gain 2 life.
−3: Target opponent's life total becomes 10.
−7: You control target player during that player's next turn.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Magic 2012
- Price
- $9.41
- EDHREC rank
- #3828
Sorin Markov sets an opponent's life total to 10 and takes control of their next turn — two separate threats stapled onto one six-mana planeswalker. Carth the Lion decks want him for the loyalty synergy, but the minus-three is the real reason he shows up: it's one of the cleanest political weapons in Commander.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Carth the Lion
Carth the Lion's passive gives every planeswalker an extra loyalty counter on entry and lets you search up a planeswalker whenever one dies, making Sorin Markov's ultimate dramatically easier to reach and replacing him if he eats removal.
Ezio Auditore da Firenze
Ezio Auditore da Firenze kills players who've been marked with an assassination counter, and Sorin Markov's minus-three collapses a fat life total to 10 — a number Ezio can often close out in a single swing.
Ramses, Assassin Lord
Ramses, Assassin Lord wins the game outright when an opponent loses while marked, and Sorin Markov makes that threshold dramatically easier to hit by cutting any life total in half or better.
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose turns lifegain into damage, and Sorin Markov's minus-three means the same lifegain that powers Vito's trigger now needs to cover only half the usual distance to lethal.
Astarion, the Decadent
Astarion, the Decadent cares about draining opponents and accumulating blood counters, and Sorin Markov slides into that shell as both a life-swing threat and a planeswalker that generates loyalty toward a game-ending ultimate.
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 |
Commander is where Sorin Markov earns his keep — resetting a 40-life opponent to 10 is backbreaking in a format where life totals scale up by default, and the minus-three pairs with any commander that wants opponents in kill range. The ultimate, which seizes control of a player's turn, is the kind of effect that ends games at a table if you can reach it. In Legacy and Vintage he's legal but almost never played; six mana is a prohibitive cost in formats where you're winning or losing by turn three. Oathbreaker gives him an interesting home since he can sit in the command zone with a signature spell, putting the life-set effect on a recastable axis.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Ezio Auditore da FirenzeSorin Markov
Near-infinite lifeloss for target opponent; Target opponent loses the game
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
If the six-mana cost is the issue, Magister Sphinx does the same life-reset for one more mana but on an evasive body rather than a planeswalker — easier to protect, harder to tutor for. Sorin Markov's real edge over cheaper alternatives is the package deal: drain, life-set, and mind control on one card with loyalty means he generates value even when opponents answer him, and no single card under $3 replicates all three axes.
Price Context
Current price
$9.41 mid tier
At $9.41, Sorin Markov sits comfortably in the mid tier — expensive enough to be a deliberate include but not a barrier for most Commander budgets. The price is stable for a card with this much name recognition and a unique effect; the life-to-10 ability has no true reprint pressure and keeps demand steady.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.