Soul Search
Sorcery
Target opponent reveals their hand. You choose a nonland card from it. Exile that card. If the card's mana value is 1 or less, create a 1/1 white and black Spirit creature token with flying.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BW
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Murders at Karlov Manor
- Price
- $0.10
- EDHREC rank
- #22414
Soul Search lets you exile a card from an opponent's hand and gain life equal to its mana value — meaningful information and incidental lifegain stapled to a two-mana sorcery. The cost is that it's pure disruption with no card advantage attached, and in Commander that ceiling is too low to compete for a slot.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Soul Search is legal across every major format but sees essentially no competitive play in any of them. In Commander, hand disruption is generally weak — you're targeting one of three or four opponents, and the effect doesn't scale — so Soul Search sits below the playability threshold even in dedicated lifegain decks that could use the incidental gain. In Legacy and Modern, one-for-one discard exists on far more efficient terms: Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek take the card rather than exile it, which is categorically stronger. Pioneer and Standard offer cleaner options at the same cost. Soul Search is legal everywhere and playable nowhere.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.10 bulk tier
At $0.10, Soul Search is deep bulk — you're not paying for the card, you're paying for the sleeve. Bulk rare pricing reflects demand, and there's no competitive archetype likely to change that.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.