Netherborn Altar

Netherborn Altar card image

Netherborn Altar: Artifact, Commander 2020. Tap, Put a soul counter on this artifact: Put your commander into your hand from the command zone. On Mana Grove.

Mana cost
{1}{B}
Mana value
2
Type
Artifact
Colour identity
Black (B)
Rarity
Rare
Set
Commander 2020 (C20)
Released
2020-04-17
Collector number
45
Artist
Titus Lunter
Commander rank
9,534 (by how often it appears in Commander decks)

Build around this card with Grover

About Netherborn Altar

Netherborn Altar is a Magic: The Gathering card, a rare black artifact from Commander 2020 (C20), a Commander product released in April 2020. It is collector number 45 in that set, with art by Titus Lunter. It costs {1}{B} (one generic and one black mana) to cast, for a mana value of 2. Its colour identity is black. It is legal in Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander and Oathbreaker. It has been printed in 2 sets, from Commander 2020 (2020) to The List (2020). The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $0.60 (normal finish, as of 2026-11-12).

Card text

{T}, Put a soul counter on this artifact: Put your commander into your hand from the command zone. Then you lose 3 life for each soul counter on this artifact.

It is spoken of only in whispers, visited only by the desperate.

Market price

Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $0.60 (as of 2026-11-12).

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

Format legality

Legality of Netherborn Altar by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.

LegacyLegal
VintageLegal
CommanderLegal
Duel CommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal

Other printings of Netherborn Altar

Netherborn Altar has been printed in 2 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.

PrintingRarityYear
The List (PLST) #C20-45Rare2023

Official rulings

Five official rulings apply to Netherborn Altar, newest first.

  • If your commander isn’t in the command zone (or if you’re not playing the Commander variant), Netherborn Altar only makes you lose life.
  • Putting a soul counter onto Netherborn Altar is part of the cost to activate its ability, and counting the number of soul counters is done as the ability resolves. Players may take actions between those times to change the number of soul counters, perhaps by removing them all so that you lose no life.
  • If you have two commanders in the command zone, Netherborn Altar’s ability puts one of your choice into your hand, not both.
  • The “commander tax” increases based on how many times a commander was cast from the command zone. Casting a commander from your hand doesn’t require that additional cost, and it doesn’t increase what the cost will be the next time you cast that commander from the command zone.
  • If Netherborn Altar leaves the battlefield while its ability is on the stack, the amount of life you lose is determined by the number of soul counters it had on it immediately before it left the battlefield.

Similar cards

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

In these precons

Netherborn Altar is in the decklist of these preconstructed Commander decks.

Explore Mana Grove