Soul Burn
Sorcery
Spend only black and/or red mana on X.
Soul Burn deals X damage to any target. You gain life equal to the damage dealt, but not more than the amount of 
spent on X, the player's life total before the damage was dealt, the planeswalker's loyalty before the damage was dealt, or the creature's toughness.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Coldsnap Theme Decks
- Price
- $0.40
- EDHREC rank
- #23968
Soul Burn deals X damage to a creature or player and you gain that much life — scaling removal and lifegain stapled together for the price of a flexible mana investment. It's a solid role-player in black-heavy or Rakdos shells that want both answers and a life buffer, though it competes hard with cleaner options like Drain Life in dedicated drain strategies.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Soul Burn earns its slot in decks running heavy black mana symbols that want to convert excess mana into both removal and life — the lifegain scales into multiplayer life totals meaningfully. In Pauper, it's a legitimate finisher at common rarity, where the combined damage-plus-lifegain split can close games or stabilize a race simultaneously. Legacy and Vintage have it legal but functionally ignored — the card pool is too deep to justify the sorcery speed and mana investment when instant-speed options exist. Soul Burn is a Commander and Pauper card; everywhere else it's outclassed before it hits the table.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.40 bulk tier
At $0.40, Soul Burn is firmly bulk — you're paying almost nothing for a card that does exactly what it says. Bulk pricing like this doesn't move; pick it up any time without thinking about it.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.