Ancient Carp
Creature — Fish
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Dragons of Tarkir
- Price
- $0.06
- EDHREC rank
- #25668
Ancient Carp is a 3/4 for five mana with islandwalk — a statline and keyword that wouldn't embarrass a format from fifteen years ago, but embarrass this one. Unblockability that requires an opponent to control Islands means Ancient Carp earns a slot only in the narrowest islandwalk-stacking shells, and even there it's the last card in.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Ancient Carp finds its only real home in Merfolk or islandwalk-tribal builds that run Aquitect's Will or similar effects to force Islands onto the table — without that setup, five mana for a vanilla 3/4 is unplayable. In Pauper, the common designation keeps it technically legal, but the format's efficiency bar makes Ancient Carp irrelevant outside of the most casual kitchen-table lists. Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, and Vintage all have access to threats that invalidate a 5-mana 3/4 on rate alone, so Ancient Carp never appears in competitive lists. Oathbreaker follows the same logic as Commander: possible in the right islandwalk package, nowhere else.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.06 bulk tier
At $0.06, Ancient Carp is deep bulk — the kind of card that comes in a draft chaff pile rather than a singles order. That price won't move; there's no competitive demand and no casual spike scenario that would change the ceiling.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.