Vraska's Contempt
Instant
Exile target creature or planeswalker. You gain 2 life.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Ixalan
- Price
- $0.43
- EDHREC rank
- #11753
Vraska's Contempt exiles any creature or planeswalker and gains you 2 life — no regeneration, no graveyard recursion, no exceptions. Four mana is the real cost, and in Commander that price is worth paying for answers that stick.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Vraska, the Silencer
Vraska, the Silencer turns opponent spell-casts into Treasure when their caster is dead, so Vraska's Contempt does double duty — it removes a threat at instant speed and can trigger the engine by eliminating a creature right before their controller would act.
Damia, Sage of Stone
Damia, Sage of Stone decks lean into Sultai's removal density to keep the board clear while Damia refills your hand, and Vraska's Contempt earns its slot as unconditional exile that handles both the indestructible blockers and planeswalkers that cheaper spells can't cleanly answer.
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 |
In Commander, Vraska's Contempt is a reliable piece of unconditional removal in any black shell — exiling a planeswalker or a creature with a graveyard-recursion clause is exactly what four mana should do at a table of four. In Pioneer and Modern, the format moves faster and four mana is a real commitment, so Vraska's Contempt is a sideboard consideration against planeswalker-heavy strategies rather than a maindeck staple. Legacy and Vintage have access to cheaper and more flexible black removal, which pushes it out of those formats almost entirely. Oathbreaker is the sweet spot alongside Commander — planeswalkers are central targets, and the life gain is a relevant incidental bonus in a more compressed game.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.43 bulk tier
At $0.43, Vraska's Contempt is firmly bulk — it's been reprinted enough times that copies are everywhere and the price has no real floor to fall through. Pick it up without hesitation; you're not protecting any investment, you're just buying a good removal spell cheap.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.