MagicTheGathering.fyi

Vilis, Broker of Blood

Legendary Creature — Demon

Flying
{B}, Pay 2 life: Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
Whenever you lose life, draw that many cards. (Damage causes loss of life.)

CMC
8
Mana cost
{5}{B}{B}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
rare
Set
Foundations Jumpstart
Price
$8.32
EDHREC rank
#1088
Buy on TCGplayer
Vilis, Broker of Blood card art
Vilis, Broker of Blood turns every point of life paid into a card drawn — an 8/8 flier that converts your own life loss into an absurd card advantage engine the moment it resolves. The eight-mana cost is the only real barrier, and in decks like K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth that barrier collapses fast; pair it with Sheoldred, the Apocalypse and the two halves create a punishing life-swing loop that buries opponents in card disadvantage.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth

K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth

71.9% of decks · synergy 0.59

K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth can effectively cast Vilis, Broker of Blood for two mana and eight life — and since that life payment immediately draws eight cards, the transaction pays for itself the instant it resolves.

02
Rowan, Scion of War

Rowan, Scion of War

49.4% of decks · synergy 0.46

Rowan, Scion of War discounts spells based on life lost, and Vilis, Broker of Blood both costs a lot of black mana and generates consistent life loss through its activated ability, making the two a natural cost-reduction loop.

03
Kaalia of the Vast

Kaalia of the Vast

49.4% of decks · synergy 0.44

Kaalia of the Vast cheats Vilis, Broker of Blood into play for free on a combat trigger, bypassing the eight-mana cost entirely and immediately arming Kaalia's attack steps with a draw engine.

04
Teval, Arbiter of Virtue

Teval, Arbiter of Virtue

43.0% of decks · synergy 0.42

Teval, Arbiter of Virtue cares about amassing card advantage through unconventional means, and Vilis, Broker of Blood's draw-on-life-loss clause synergizes with the life payment effects Teval decks run to fuel that engine.

05
Be'lakor, the Dark Master

Be'lakor, the Dark Master

43.0% of decks · synergy 0.41

Be'lakor, the Dark Master triggers whenever a Demon enters the battlefield, and Vilis, Broker of Blood as a high-impact Demon provides both an ETB payoff and an ongoing draw engine that keeps Be'lakor decks fueled through the mid and late game.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Commander is where Vilis, Broker of Blood belongs — the 100-card singleton format gives it the setup pieces and the time to matter, and the multiplayer life totals mean the life-loss draws accumulate into crushing advantage before opponents can race it down. In Legacy and Vintage, eight mana is a non-starter; neither format will tap out for a vanilla-ish threat when faster, cheaper threats close games by turn two or three. Modern has the same problem compounded by a tighter clock, and the lack of reliable life-payment infrastructure outside dedicated life-loss builds makes the draw trigger fire far less consistently than it does in Commander. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander format where Vilis, Broker of Blood is occasionally worth considering, specifically as the signature spell target for a life-payment planeswalker, but even there the mana cost is a stretch.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

If eight mana is too steep, Gravebreaker Lamia and Phyrexian Arena cover parts of the role — consistent card draw stapled to a black permanent — but neither replaces the explosive draw-on-demand that makes Vilis, Broker of Blood uniquely powerful. The honest answer is that no budget replacement fully replicates drawing cards equal to life paid; you're trading a potentially game-warping trigger for incremental value, which changes what the deck is doing rather than just cutting a cost.

Price Context

Current price

$8.32 mid tier

At $8.32, Vilis, Broker of Blood sits in the mid tier — expensive enough to feel like a deliberate purchase, cheap enough that it's not a barrier for most Commander players building around it. Given its unique draw trigger and the absence of anything that does the same thing cheaper, that price point is justified and unlikely to soften while K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth and Kaalia of the Vast decks remain popular.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

← All cards

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