Tormented Thoughts
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Target player discards a number of cards equal to the sacrificed creature's power.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Journey into Nyx
- Price
- $0.13
- EDHREC rank
- #22266
Tormented Thoughts makes an opponent discard cards equal to the power of a creature you sacrifice — a single Hellcarver Demon on the table turns it into a seven-card strip. The catch is the sacrifice cost: without a disposable high-power body already in play, this is a three-mana Duress at best.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Tormented Thoughts is a Commander card through and through — the format's oversized creatures and token-generating engines are exactly what make the sacrifice payoff worthwhile. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer it competes against unconditional discard that doesn't ask you to sacrifice anything, so it almost never shows up. Oathbreaker can support it in dedicated discard or sacrifice shells, but the smaller card pools make finding a high-power sacrifice outlet less reliable.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Hellcarver DemonDoomsdayBarren GloryNexus of FateTormented Thoughts
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View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.13 bulk tier
At $0.13, Tormented Thoughts is deep bulk — the kind of card you pull from a common box rather than buy outright. That price is stable; there's no competitive demand pulling it upward, and its niche role in Commander sacrifice decks keeps it from spiking.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.