Arcane Foundry › Commanders › The Lord of Pain
The Lord of Pain
Legendary Creature — Human Assassin · {3}{B}{R} · Black/Red commander
What The Lord of Pain actually does
Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.
- Triggered ability · cast_spellWhenever a player casts their first spell each turn, choose another target player. The Lord of Pain deals damage equal to that spell's mana value to the chosen player.
- Static ability · taxYour opponents can't gain life.
- Keyword · menacemenace
What a The Lord of Pain deck needs
Plays as punisher. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- high mana-value spells of your own (your first spell each turn hits an opponent for its mana value)
- lifegain denial is built in — opponents can't gain life
The The Lord of Pain deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 6× Evasion that does NOT target or attach — for a commander your own auras and equipment cannot legally touch
- 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 1× Answer a whole board at once
- 7× Refill your hand
- 2× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- 11× Get ahead on mana
- 14× Mana value at or above the floor — for a cascade commander a cheap card is a DEFECT, not a bargain
Best cards for The Lord of Pain
Ranked by an engine that reads what each card does — its real cost, its delay and how reliably it works — rather than counting how often other people play it.
Evasion that does NOT target or attach — for a commander your own auras and equipment cannot legally touch
- Glaring Spotlight1 mana
- Cultist of the Absolute1 mana
- Inquisitorial Rosette2 mana
- Predators' Hour2 mana
- Crash Through1 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar3 mana
- Goblin War Drums3 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Wild Magic Surge2 mana
- Defile1 mana
- Tragic Slip1 mana
- Infernal Grasp2 mana
- Terminate2 mana
- Fatal Push1 mana
- Bitter Triumph2 mana
- Black Sun's Twilight1 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Demonic Tutor2 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Vampiric Tutor1 mana
- Imperial Seal1 mana
- Demonic Consultation1 mana
- Grim Tutor3 mana
- Tainted Pact2 mana
- Scheming Symmetry1 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Toxic Deluge3 mana
- Damnation4 mana
- Blasphemous Act9 mana
- Chain Reaction4 mana
- Bontu's Last Reckoning3 mana
- Street Spasm1 mana
- Sickening Dreams2 mana
- Crypt Rats3 mana
Refill your hand
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Black Market Connections3 mana
- Braids, Arisen Nightmare3 mana
- Morbid Opportunist3 mana
- Phyrexian Arena3 mana
- Professional Face-Breaker3 mana
- The One Ring4 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Hexing Squelcher2 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Commander's Plate1 mana
- Mithril Coat3 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana
- The Walls of Ba Sing Se8 mana
Get ahead on mana
- Sol Ring1 mana
- Rakdos Signet2 mana
- Palladium Myr3 mana
- Worn Powerstone3 mana
- Chrome Mox0 mana
- Everflowing Chalice0 mana
- Mox Diamond0 mana
- Mana Vault1 mana
Mana value at or above the floor — for a cascade commander a cheap card is a DEFECT, not a bargain
- Excalibur, Sword of Eden12 mana
- Ancient Stone Idol10 mana
- Blightsteel Colossus12 mana
- Charred Foyer // Warped Space10 mana
- Darksteel Colossus11 mana
- Emrakul, the Promised End13 mana
- Emrakul, the World Anew12 mana
- Flayer of Loyalties10 mana
Build this deck in the Arcane Forge →
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