The Lord of Pain
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.
How The Lord of Pain decks play in EDH
The Lord of Pain is a Rakdos commander in black and red costing 3BR, and its legendary creature - human assassin line shapes the whole deck around it. Built-in evasion means damage gets through reliably, so effects that scale that damage are worth more than extra bodies. The cards below are the ones The Lord of Pain decks actually play most often, grouped by the job they do.
Most-played cards
20 cards · about $38.33Play rates from EDHREC. Prices from Scryfall, refreshed daily.
Card draw (2)
Removal (3)
Creatures (7)
Synergy & payoffs (7)
Lands (1)
Build the full 100
Grimoire generates a complete, Commander-legal The Lord of Pain decklist with a written strategy, a full mana base and live prices — from the whole card pool, or only from cards you already own.
Start with The Lord of PainThe Lord of Pain deck questions
What colours can I use in a The Lord of Pain deck?
The Lord of Pain has a Rakdos colour identity, so every card in the deck must be black and red or colourless. That includes mana symbols in rules text, not just casting cost.
What are the best cards for The Lord of Pain?
The cards played most often in The Lord of Pain decks include Gideon the Oathless, Turbulent Crater, Smaug, Wicked Worm. The full list of staples above is grouped by the job each card does, so you can see the deck's skeleton rather than just a pile of names.
How much does a The Lord of Pain deck cost?
The 20 most-played cards shown above come to roughly $38.33 at current market prices. A complete 100-card build costs more, and Grimoire can generate a budget version instead if you set a price ceiling.
Can I build a The Lord of Pain deck from cards I already own?
Yes. Import your collection into Grimoire and choose "my cards" when you build. The generator will only use cards you actually own, and the Missing Cards page shows what you would need to buy to finish any list.