Tarnished Citadel
Land
: Add 
.: Add one mana of any color. This land deals 3 damage to you.
- CMC
- 0
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Avatar: The Last Airbender Eternal
- Price
- $4.92
- EDHREC rank
- #2624
Tarnished Citadel taps for any color at the cost of 3 life — immediate, unconditional mana fixing that no other land matches for raw flexibility. That life payment is real, not theoretical, so you run it in decks that either don't care about life totals or actively want to lose them; everywhere else, it's a liability.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Darien, King of Kjeldor
Darien, King of Kjeldor turns every point of damage dealt to you into 1/1 Soldier tokens, so tapping Tarnished Citadel three times is effectively a land that generates three bodies — the life loss is the whole point.
Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence
Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence scales her power and toughness on life paid during your turn, making Tarnished Citadel a land that also pumps her every time you need off-color mana.
Rowan, Scion of War
Rowan, Scion of War reduces spell costs by the life lost this turn, so the 3-life payment from Tarnished Citadel directly translates into cheaper spells the same turn you crack it.
Sisay, Weatherlight Captain
Sisay, Weatherlight Captain runs five colors and needs clean access to each pip to activate on curve; Tarnished Citadel fills any gap in the mana base reliably, which is worth the tax in a deck that can't afford to miss a color.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Tarnished Citadel earns its slot in any five-color mana base that needs reliable pip coverage and in life-loss synergy builds where the 3 damage is a feature rather than a drawback. Legacy and Vintage have access to it but rarely need it — those formats run fetchlands and dual lands that fix mana without a life payment, so Tarnished Citadel is largely outclassed. Oathbreaker mirrors Commander's calculus: fine in greedy five-color lists, marginal everywhere else. Modern, Pioneer, Standard, and Pauper are non-factors.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$4.92 cheap tier
At $4.92, Tarnished Citadel sits at the low end of the specialty-land market — cheap enough that there's no budget excuse to skip it in the decks that want it. Demand is narrow but consistent, so the price is unlikely to move dramatically in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.