Stench of Decay
Instant
Nonartifact creatures get -1/-1 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Alliances
- Price
- $0.11
- EDHREC rank
- #28646
Stench of Decay gives each creature an opponent controls -1/-1 until end of turn the moment a creature dies — no mana required, triggers automatically off any death. The catch is that it's an enchantment with no other text, so you're paying three mana for a passive debuff that only matters when creatures are already dying.
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 |
Stench of Decay is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker. In Commander it fits narrowest in aristocrats shells that generate repeated death triggers — Cruel Entertainment aside, three mana for a static debuff is a hard sell unless your deck kills multiple creatures per turn consistently. Pauper is the format where it has the most realistic home, since the -1/-1 sweeper effect scales better against small-creature aggro at common power levels. Legacy and Vintage have access to far more efficient mass-debuff effects, so Stench of Decay won't see play there.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.11 bulk tier
At $0.11, Stench of Decay is deep bulk — you're not buying it for value, you're buying it because it's basically free. It will hold that floor price; there's no realistic reprint or demand pressure that moves a card like this.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.