Widespread Brutality
Sorcery
Amass Zombies 2, then the Army you amassed deals damage equal to its power to each non-Army creature. (To amass Zombies 2, put two +1/+1 counters on an Army you control. It's also a Zombie. If you don't control an Army, create a 0/0 black Zombie Army creature token first.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BR
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- War of the Spark Promos
- Price
- $2.60
- EDHREC rank
- #7786
Widespread Brutality wipes the board of small creatures and replaces itself with cards equal to the number of tokens you sacrificed to cast it — the board state resets in your favor. The catch is that Amass cost: you need an Army token already in play to get full value, which ties it tightly to Saruman, the White Hand and his ilk.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Saruman, the White Hand
Saruman, the White Hand generates Orc Army tokens whenever you cast or copy noncreature spells, so by the time you're ready to fire off Widespread Brutality, you've already built a sizable Army to fuel the Amass cost and draw a pile of cards off the massacre.
Sauron, the Dark Lord
Sauron, the Dark Lord rewards you for casting Wraith spells and triggers off Ring-tempting, so Widespread Brutality slots in as both a board clear and a refuel engine — clearing blockers and drawing cards while Sauron's own Army token keeps growing through the chaos.
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 |
Widespread Brutality lives almost exclusively in Commander, where multiplayer boards are crowded enough that sweeping power-1-or-less creatures touches a meaningful number of threats. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but too narrow — those formats kill you before you assemble an Army, and the draw payoff doesn't offset the awkward Amass requirement when faster answers exist. Modern and Pioneer have access to it, but dedicated Amass synergies are too underpowered to compete at those power levels. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander 60-card variant where it might see occasional play, specifically in a Saruman oathbreaker shell that can consistently produce the Army token before turn four.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$2.60 cheap tier
At $2.60, Widespread Brutality sits in the cheap tier — low enough that it's a no-brainer inclusion if you're building around Amass in Commander. Niche cards that only shine in one archetype tend to stay in this range, so don't expect movement unless Amass gets a meaningful Standard-legal push.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.