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Witch-king, Bringer of Ruin

LTR · rare · Released 2023-06-23

Power

brawl
fringeStrong staple4/19
commander
fringeStrong staple4/19

Tier shown as baseline → best-case (in its ideal shell). The score (-8 to 19) is a rank signal derived from tier + kind + atoms; browse by it on the cards page.

Derived from the 7 atoms below.

on

on rate

incremental

minor value alone

modular

fits anywhere

scales

scales up

rigid

one mode

broad

broadly useful

fragile

easily answered

Commander Bracket

1Precon2Core3Upgraded4Optimized5cEDH

Archetypes

positive:
controlmidrangearistocrats
negative:
aggrotokens-go-wide

Roles

evasive-threatmidrange-threatedictattack-trigger

Risks

sorcery-speed-onlyopp-controls-mode

Mechanics

—

Typal

synergy:
wraith
anti:

—

Structural

triggered-ability

Rationale

6cmc 5/3 flying legendary wraith that forces the defending player to sacrifice their weakest creature on every attack — a repeatable edict stapled to an evasive clock. Solid in midrange and control as a persistent threat that strips small utility creatures; fits aristocrats shells by fueling graveyard synergies via forced sacrifices. Tokens-go-wide is a mild negative because the edict always takes the smallest creature (often a token), which lets token decks sacrifice chaff freely, protecting real threats. The trigger is opponent-controlled in the sense that they pick the "least power" creature among ties, and the card does nothing until it attacks.

Learnings (3)

  • The edict trigger sacrifices the creature with the LEAST power — not the defending player's choice. In token-heavy boards the opponent feeds it a 0/1 or 1/1 token, so its disruption is far weaker against go-wide strategies than it appears.

    tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6

  • Because the sacrifice happens on attack (not on damage), blockers are chosen before the edict resolves; the defending player cannot block and then sacrifice the blocker to dodge combat damage — they sacrifice before blockers are declared? No: triggers on attack, so it resolves at the beginning of combat on your turn. The forced sacrifice occurs before blockers, so the defending player loses a creature AND must still block if they wish.

    tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6

  • At 5/3 flying for 6 mana Witch-king is on-rate but not above it; in Commander he competes with higher-ceiling 6-drops, keeping him tier-2 rather than tier-1.

    tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6

Popularity

  • EDHREC rank: #7,407