Golden Demise

Golden Demise card image

Golden Demise: Sorcery, Rivals of Ixalan. Ascend. All creatures get -2/-2 until end of turn. Printings, prices, and format legality on Mana Grove.

Mana cost
{1}{B}{B}
Mana value
3
Type
Sorcery
Colour identity
Black (B)
Rarity
Uncommon
Set
Rivals of Ixalan (RIX)
Released
2018-01-19
Collector number
73
Artist
Deruchenko Alexander
Commander rank
17,891 (by how often it appears in Commander decks)
Keywords
Ascend

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About Golden Demise

Golden Demise is a Magic: The Gathering card, an uncommon black sorcery from Rivals of Ixalan (RIX), an expansion set released in January 2018. It is collector number 73 in that set, with art by Deruchenko Alexander. It costs {1}{B}{B} (one generic and two black mana) to cast, for a mana value of 3. Its colour identity is black. It is legal in Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Historic, Timeless, Gladiator and Penny Dreadful. Rivals of Ixalan is its only printing so far. The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $0.22 (normal finish, as of 2026-11-01).

Card text

Ascend (If you control ten or more permanents, you get the city's blessing for the rest of the game.)

All creatures get -2/-2 until end of turn. If you have the city's blessing, instead only creatures your opponents control get -2/-2 until end of turn.

Market price

Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $0.22 (as of 2026-11-01).

The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.

Format legality

Legality of Golden Demise by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.

PioneerLegal
ModernLegal
LegacyLegal
VintageLegal
CommanderLegal
Duel CommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
BrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
TimelessLegal
GladiatorLegal
Penny DreadfulLegal

Official rulings

Six official rulings apply to Golden Demise, newest first.

  • If your tenth permanent enters the battlefield and then a permanent leaves the battlefield immediately afterwards (most likely due to the “Legend Rule” or due to being a creature with 0 toughness), you get the city’s blessing before it leaves the battlefield.
  • A permanent is any object on the battlefield, including tokens and lands. Spells and emblems aren’t permanents.
  • Once you have the city’s blessing, you have it for the rest of the game, even if you lose control of some or all of your permanents. The city’s blessing isn’t a permanent itself and can’t be removed by any effect.
  • If you cast a spell with ascend, you don’t get the city’s blessing until it resolves. Players may respond to that spell by trying to change whether you get the city’s blessing.
  • If you control ten permanents but don’t control a permanent or resolving spell with ascend, you don’t get the city’s blessing. For example, if you control ten permanents, lose control of one, then cast Golden Demise, you won’t have the city’s blessing and the spell will affect creatures you control.
  • Golden Demise affects only creatures that are on the battlefield at the time it resolves. Creatures that enter the battlefield later in the turn won’t get -2/-2. Similarly, if you have the city’s blessing, creatures that come under your opponents’ control later in the turn won’t get -2/-2.

Similar cards

Other sorcery cards with a black colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.

Mentioned in these guides

These guides mention Golden Demise.

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