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Tortured Existence

Enchantment

{B}, Discard a creature card: Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.

CMC
1
Mana cost
{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
common
Set
Stronghold
Price
$4.90
EDHREC rank
#1559
Buy on TCGplayer
Tortured Existence card art
Tortured Existence trades a single black mana and a creature in hand to swap any creature from your graveyard back to your hand — repeatable, instant-speed, and requiring nothing but bodies in two zones. At one mana, the ceiling is absurd: engines like Hashaton, Scarab's Fist turn every activation into a triggered ability, while value creatures like Kheru Goldkeeper become inexhaustible.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Hashaton, Scarab's Fist

Hashaton, Scarab's Fist

75.8% of decks · synergy 0.69

Hashaton, Scarab's Fist triggers whenever a creature card leaves your graveyard, so each Tortured Existence activation generates free value on top of the swap itself — one mana buys both card selection and a Hashaton trigger.

02
Imotekh the Stormlord

Imotekh the Stormlord

59.3% of decks · synergy 0.55

Imotekh the Stormlord cares about creatures dying and tokens entering, and Tortured Existence feeds the graveyard loop that keeps his engine cycling — discard a creature, retrieve a threat, repeat while his board keeps growing.

03
Sefris of the Hidden Ways

Sefris of the Hidden Ways

57.6% of decks · synergy 0.51

Sefris of the Hidden Ways triggers on any creature entering the graveyard, so Tortured Existence lets you fire her dungeon-delving ability on demand by cycling creatures in and out of the bin at instant speed.

04
Syr Konrad, the Grim

Syr Konrad, the Grim

54.0% of decks · synergy 0.50

Syr Konrad, the Grim pings every opponent whenever a creature leaves the graveyard or a creature card enters it, making each Tortured Existence activation a two-trigger ping machine for one black mana.

05
Disa the Restless

Disa the Restless

42.1% of decks · synergy 0.38

Disa the Restless rewards putting creature cards in the graveyard, and Tortured Existence gives her decks a repeatable way to cycle through the bin while retrieving specific threats when needed.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern not legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper legal
oathbreaker legal

Tortured Existence is at its best in Commander, where long games reward repeatable engines and graveyard synergies compound across four opponents. In Pauper it sees legitimate play in dedicated Tortured Existence combo shells — typically pairing it with Sling-Gang Lieutenant or similar sacrifice loops to grind out wins at common rarity. Legacy permits it but the format is too fast and linear to support a one-mana engine that asks for setup; it's a fringe consideration at best there. Vintage is legal but irrelevant — the power ceiling of that format leaves no room for incremental graveyard cycling.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$4.90 cheap tier

At $4.90, Tortured Existence sits in the cheap tier but punches above it — this is a single-printing enchantment with a dedicated combo identity, and the price reflects real demand rather than speculative markup. It holds value well for what it does; this isn't a card you'll find a budget substitute for.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.