Aerial Extortionist
Creature — Bird Soldier
Flying
Whenever this creature enters or deals combat damage to a player, exile up to one target nonland permanent. For as long as that card remains exiled, its owner may cast it.
Whenever another player casts a spell from anywhere other than their hand, draw a card.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- New Capenna Commander Promos
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #2621
Aerial Extortionist enters the battlefield and immediately starts taxing every non-land permanent opponents control that entered outside of the main phase — flickers, flash plays, combat tricks, and end-step ramp all get punished. Five mana is a real ask, but the flying body backs up the tax and Rocco, Street Chef decks have made it one of the most-played cards at this effect's price point.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Rocco, Street Chef
Rocco, Street Chef uses Aerial Extortionist as a core piece of its tax and drain strategy — Rocco's food-generating triggers happen at end step, meaning opponents who try to play around the main-phase restriction get squeezed for life while Rocco builds resources.
Kastral, the Windcrested
Kastral, the Windcrested cares deeply about flying creatures, and Aerial Extortionist fills both roles: it's a relevant flier that adds a punishing tax layer on top of whatever tempo Kastral's air force is already generating.
Niko, Light of Hope
Niko, Light of Hope leans on shard tokens and blink effects, and Aerial Extortionist's enters-the-battlefield trigger means every bounce or flicker Niko enables resets the tax while generating fresh drain pressure.
Kamiz, Obscura Oculus
Kamiz, Obscura Oculus builds around connive and making creatures unblockable, and Aerial Extortionist's evasion makes it an easy connive target while the tax disrupts the flash-heavy and end-step plays that opponents use to stay ahead on board.
Ketramose, the New Dawn
Ketramose, the New Dawn rewards playing cards on multiple turns and triggers on draw effects, so Aerial Extortionist's continuous tax stacks naturally with the pace Ketramose wants — slow the table down while Ketramose's draw engine pulls ahead.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Aerial Extortionist does its best work — four opponents means the flash-and-end-step tax hits someone almost every turn, and the life drain compounds fast in a multiplayer game. Legacy and Vintage have the raw card quality to ignore a five-mana 3/4, and the formats are too fast for a symmetrical-but-slow tax piece to matter. Oathbreaker shares enough of Commander's multiplayer DNA that the card is functional there, though the smaller starting life totals make the drain payoff land quicker.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Aerial Extortionist isn't available right now — check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for a current figure. Given its 51% inclusion rate across roughly 12,000 Rocco, Street Chef decks alone, demand is real, so don't expect a bulk-rare price if it isn't one already.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Rocco, Street Chef
- Kastral, the Windcrested
- Niko, Light of Hope
- Kamiz, Obscura Oculus
- Ketramose, the New Dawn
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.