The Lord of Pain

The Lord of Pain card image

The Lord of Pain: Legendary Creature - Human Assassin, Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander. Menace. Your opponents can't gain life. On Mana Grove.

Mana cost
{3}{B}{R}
Mana value
5
Type
Legendary Creature - Human Assassin
Colour identity
Black and red (BR)
Power / toughness
5/5
Rarity
Mythic
Set
Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander (DSC)
Released
2024-09-27
Collector number
3
Artist
Greg Staples
Commander rank
2,354 (by how often it appears in Commander decks)
Keywords
Menace
Commander
Can be your commander

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About The Lord of Pain

The Lord of Pain is a Magic: The Gathering card, a mythic rare black and red legendary creature from Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander (DSC), a Commander product released in September 2024. It is collector number 3 in that set, with art by Greg Staples. It costs {3}{B}{R} (three generic, one black and one red mana) to cast, for a mana value of 5. It is a 5/5 creature. Its colour identity is black and red. It is legal in Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander and Oathbreaker. Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander is its only printing so far. It can be your commander. The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $13.58 (normal finish, as of 2026-11-03).

Card text

Menace

Your opponents can't gain life.

Whenever 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.

Market price

Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $13.58 (as of 2026-11-03).

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

Format legality

Legality of The Lord of Pain by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.

LegacyLegal
VintageLegal
CommanderLegal
Duel CommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal

Official rulings

Four official rulings apply to The Lord of Pain, newest first.

  • The Lord of Pain's last ability must target a player other than the one who cast the spell that caused the ability to trigger. That means that if it's just you and one other player in the game, you'll have to target yourself when that player casts their first spell each turn. (What did you expect? You summoned The Lord of Pain!)
  • If a spell has {X} in its mana cost, use the value chosen for X when determining that spell's mana value.
  • Spells and abilities that cause opponents to gain life still resolve while The Lord of Pain is on the battlefield. They won't gain life, but any other effects of that spell or ability will still happen.
  • If an effect says to set an opponent's life total to a number that's higher than their current life total, that player's life total won't change.

Similar cards

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

In these precons

The Lord of Pain is in the decklist of these preconstructed Commander decks.

Mentioned in these guides

These guides mention The Lord of Pain.

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