Tragic Banshee
Creature — Spirit
Morbid — When this creature enters, target creature an opponent controls gets -1/-1 until end of turn. If a creature died this turn, that creature gets -13/-13 until end of turn instead.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Foundations
- Price
- $0.13
- EDHREC rank
- #19776
Tragic Banshee forces a target opponent to lose 3 life with no targeting, no combat, and no counterplay beyond paying 3 life themselves — and it does this the moment it enters. Five mana for a 3/3 with that rider is overcosted, and in most contexts a direct damage spell or removal piece does more useful work for less.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Tragic Banshee is legal across every major constructed format, but it sees essentially no play in any of them. In Commander, the life totals start at 40 and the effect targets only one opponent, making the 3-life drain too marginal to justify the five-mana investment when the format rewards cards that affect the whole table or generate repeatable value. In faster constructed formats like Modern and Pioneer, a five-mana 3/3 with a one-time drain is simply too slow and too low-impact to compete. The only context where Tragic Banshee gets a second look is life-drain synergy builds in Commander — think Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose or Sanguine Bond strategies — but even there, better cheap alternatives exist.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.13 bulk tier
At $0.13, Tragic Banshee is deep bulk — the price reflects the demand, which is near zero. It holds that floor indefinitely; there is no realistic spike scenario for a five-mana conditional drain with no competitive home.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.