This Is How It Ends
Instant
Target creature's owner shuffles it into their library, then faces a villainous choice — They lose 5 life, or they shuffle another creature they own into their library.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Doctor Who
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #8336
This Is How It Ends exiles a target creature and makes its controller lose life equal to its power — a removal spell that doubles as a life-drain trigger for every Dalek or poison-counter payoff in your deck. The cost keeps it accessible, and Davros, Dalek Creator turns the life-loss rider into a card-draw engine, making this one of the most efficient pieces of removal in that archetype.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Davros, Dalek Creator
Davros, Dalek Creator draws a card whenever an opponent loses life for the first time each turn, so This Is How It Ends doesn't just remove a threat — it replaces itself on the spot.
Dr. Eggman
Dr. Eggman cares about opponents losing life and creating artifact tokens, and This Is How It Ends reliably triggers that life-loss clause while clearing a blocker that would otherwise slow your robot army.
Zevlor, Elturel Exile
Zevlor, Elturel Exile copies spells that target a single opponent to hit every other opponent instead, and the life-loss rider on This Is How It Ends becomes a table-wide drain when Zevlor is in play.
Sygg, River Cutthroat
Sygg, River Cutthroat draws a card at end of turn for each opponent who lost three or more life, and This Is How It Ends can contribute meaningfully to that threshold while removing a creature that might otherwise block your attackers.
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 |
Commander is where This Is How It Ends lives — the life-loss trigger is largely irrelevant in a vacuum, but in a 40-life multiplayer game built around Davros, Dalek Creator or similar payoffs, it becomes a removal spell that generates additional value every time you cast it. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but faces direct competition from removal that trades at parity without needing a synergy shell to justify the slot. Oathbreaker mirrors the Commander dynamic on a smaller scale, and dedicated life-loss builds there can get real mileage out of it. Outside of those formats it isn't legal, which is fine — this card was designed for the multiplayer grind, not the competitive ladder.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for This Is How It Ends isn't currently available, so check Scryfall or your preferred vendor for the live number. Cards with this level of build-around synergy in a single popular archetype tend to settle at a modest price point, but verify before buying.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Davros, Dalek Creator
- Dr. Eggman
- Missy
- Zevlor, Elturel Exile
- Sygg, River Cutthroat
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.