Urabrask, Heretic Praetor
Legendary Creature — Phyrexian Praetor
Haste
At the beginning of your upkeep, exile the top card of your library. You may play it this turn.
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, the next time they would draw a card this turn, instead they exile the top card of their library. They may play it this turn.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Streets of New Capenna
- Price
- $6.81
- EDHREC rank
- #4197
Urabrask, Heretic Praetor is a five-mana red asymmetric engine that impulse-draws you a card every upkeep while making opponents do the same — except their cards are exiled and only castable that turn, which locks out the instant-speed answers and combo setups they'd rather hold. It's closer to Drannith Magistrate in spirit than a typical red threat, and Rocco, Street Chef lists run it at over 50% inclusion because the free-cast pressure stacks perfectly with food-and-value shells that already want to be ahead on resources.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Rocco, Street Chef
Rocco, Street Chef pairs with Urabrask, Heretic Praetor because both commanders want to snowball incremental card advantage — Rocco rewards playing cards on others' turns, and Urabrask's forced impulse on each opponent's upkeep feeds that engine while taxing their hand flexibility.
Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald
Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald triggers off cards cast from exile, so Urabrask, Heretic Praetor effectively turns every opponent's upkeep into a free Wolf token — the two cards form a self-contained value loop that pressures the table each turn cycle.
Laelia, the Blade Reforged
Laelia, the Blade Reforged grows whenever you cast spells from exile, and Urabrask, Heretic Praetor adds an extra impulse draw every turn, meaning Laelia can reliably grow multiple times before combat even starts.
Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival
Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival cares about casting spells from unusual zones, so Urabrask, Heretic Praetor's steady stream of exiled cards gives Pia consistent fuel and makes the deck less reliant on drawing into action naturally.
Gwen Stacy
Gwen Stacy benefits from the chaotic resource pressure Urabrask, Heretic Praetor creates — opponents burning exiled cards on their own upkeeps burn resources instead of holding up interaction for Gwen's swing steps, smoothing her path through blockers.
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 |
Commander is where Urabrask, Heretic Praetor does its best work: the three-player tax multiplies his upkeep trigger across the table, turning a single card into three forced impulses and a clock on everyone's reactive game plan. In Legacy and Vintage he's legal but sees no meaningful play — five mana is a steep ask in formats that end games on turns two and three, and his effect, while disruptive, doesn't match the raw power of the format's top threats. Modern and Pioneer are similarly unlikely homes; both formats move faster than a five-mana enchantment creature requires, and the disruption he provides doesn't line up cleanly against those metagames. Oathbreaker is an underexplored fit: as a signature spell he'd be illegal, but as a companion to a red or Gruul planeswalker he slots cleanly into impulse-draw shells.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Drannith MagistrateUrabrask, Heretic Praetor
Opponents skip their draw steps; Lock
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Questing Druid and Outpost Siege both offer impulse draw in red for significantly less, though neither taxes opponents the way Urabrask, Heretic Praetor does — you get the card advantage without the political pressure. If the disruption half is the priority, Drannith Magistrate covers the 'no casting from exile' angle for under $2, but it's white-only and does nothing for your own card flow.
Price Context
Current price
$6.81 mid tier
At $6.81, Urabrask, Heretic Praetor sits comfortably in the mid tier — expensive enough to feel like a deliberate inclusion, cheap enough that it's not a barrier for most Commander budgets. The price is stable for a mythic with genuine unique effects; no other card does exactly this combination of asymmetric impulse draw and opponent tax, which keeps demand steady.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.