Venarian Gold
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
When this Aura enters, tap enchanted creature and put X sleep counters on it.
Enchanted creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step if it has a sleep counter on it.
At the beginning of the upkeep of enchanted creature's controller, remove a sleep counter from that creature.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Legends
- Price
- $0.43
- EDHREC rank
- #29504
Venarian Gold lands as many -1/-1 counters as the mana you pour into it and taps the creature — that's a flexible, scalable threat answer on a single card. The cost is real: it's a sorcery, so anything with haste or already-tapped targets dodges it entirely.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Venarian Gold occupies a narrow lane — it's a one-for-one removal spell in a format that punishes those, and the variable cost means you're often overpaying to kill something mid-sized while a better option would've handled it cleanly. Pauper is where it sees the most honest competition: -1/-1 counter synergies actually exist at common, and the scalable X cost can line up against the format's small creatures. In Legacy and Vintage, it's strictly outclassed by cheaper, instant-speed interaction and will never see play. Oathbreaker mirrors the Commander read — a fine pickup if your signature spell or planeswalker synergizes with counters, fringe otherwise.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.43 bulk tier
At $0.43, Venarian Gold is deep bulk — the price reflects its niche appeal rather than any ceiling it's bumping against. It won't appreciate meaningfully unless a dedicated -1/-1 counters commander pushes demand, and that's a narrow scenario.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.