Soul Ransom
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
You control enchanted creature.
Discard two cards: This Aura's controller sacrifices it, then draws two cards. Only your opponents may activate this ability.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Gatecrash
- Price
- $0.23
- EDHREC rank
- #19569
Soul Ransom steals a creature outright, but hands the opponent a two-card discard outlet to buy it back — which means the real payoff is in decks that want the discard trigger, not the theft. Treat it as a discard engine that occasionally doubles as removal, and it earns its slot; treat it as pure theft, and it disappoints.
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 |
Soul Ransom is a Commander card through and through — the slow, political back-and-forth of the buyback clause is irrelevant in faster formats where the game ends before anyone cares. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer it's simply outclassed: four mana for conditional control of one creature doesn't compete when threats close games by turn four. Commander is where Soul Ransom finds a home, specifically in Dimir or Grixis shells that weaponize the opponent's discard — commanders like Nekusar, the Mindrazer or Xanathos, Demon Prince turn that buyback clause from a drawback into a bonus trigger. Oathbreaker is legal but shares Commander's pace; the same synergy logic applies at a smaller table.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.23 bulk tier
At $0.23, Soul Ransom is deep bulk — a throw-in pickup that costs less than a sleeve. Don't expect that to change; narrow four-mana enchantments with conditional upside have no meaningful secondary market floor.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.