Szadek, Lord of Secrets
Legendary Creature — Vampire
Flying
If Szadek would deal combat damage to a player, instead put that many +1/+1 counters on Szadek and that player mills that many cards.
- CMC
- 7
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Commander 2011
- Price
- $0.69
- EDHREC rank
- #17958
Szadek, Lord of Secrets hits the table as a 5/5 flying vampire that grows every time it deals combat damage — and instead of dealing that damage normally, it mills the opponent for that many cards, then gets that many +1/+1 counters permanently. The seven-mana cost is steep, but one unblocked swing can snowball into a lethal threat within two or three attacks.
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 |
In Commander, Szadek, Lord of Secrets is at its ceiling — mill-as-win-condition is viable in a 100-card singleton format, and the multiplayer table means one successful swing per opponent can spiral into a library-destroying threat. In Legacy and Vintage, seven mana is a non-starter; far more efficient threats exist at every point on the curve, and mill is not a supported archetype in either format's competitive tier. Modern similarly has no interest — mill decks there run Hedron Crab and Ruin Crab for a fraction of the mana investment. Szadek is strictly a Commander card, and a niche one at that, best deployed as a commander or a top-end threat in dedicated Dimir mill builds.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.69 bulk tier
At $0.69, Szadek, Lord of Secrets sits firmly in bulk rare territory — there's no competitive demand pulling the price up, and the supply from multiple printings keeps it there. It holds no financial upside, but at under a dollar it's an easy include if the effect fits your build.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.