Aura Gnarlid
Creature — Beast
Creatures with power less than this creature's power can't block it.
This creature gets +1/+1 for each Aura on the battlefield.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Planechase 2012
- Price
- $0.77
- EDHREC rank
- #10342
Aura Gnarlid enters as a 2/2 and scales into a legitimate threat the moment enchantments start hitting the board — in a dedicated Auras deck, it's routinely swinging as a 5/5 or larger by turn four without spending a single card to pump it. Gylwain, Casting Director makes this especially clean: every creature Gylwain suits up passively inflates the Gnarlid, turning background enchantment generation into free power.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Gylwain, Casting Director
Gylwain, Casting Director generates Role tokens on other creatures as a byproduct of casting them, which means Aura Gnarlid grows automatically as the board develops — no extra investment required.
Ellivere of the Wild Court
Ellivere of the Wild Court rewards enchanting creatures with Virtuous Role tokens, so the enchantment count climbs fast and Aura Gnarlid scales in lockstep with the deck's core gameplan.
Estrid, the Masked
Estrid, the Masked stacks Auras across permanents for value and untap effects, and Aura Gnarlid converts that enchantment density directly into combat pressure the deck otherwise lacks.
Mazzy, Truesword Paladin
Mazzy, Truesword Paladin recurs Auras from the graveyard to heroic creatures, and Aura Gnarlid benefits from every re-attachment — each loop adds another counter to the permanent enchantment count it reads from.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Aura Gnarlid is a Commander card in practice — enchantment-matters strategies in 60-card formats rarely have the density or redundancy to make a vanilla-scaled creature competitive, and it sees virtually no play in Legacy, Modern, or Vintage despite being legal in all three. Pauper is its closest non-Commander home, where common Aura synergies exist, but even there it's fringe at best. Commander is where Aura Gnarlid actually earns its slot: dedicated Auras builds accumulate ten or more enchantments naturally, and a 12/12 trampler for two mana is exactly the payoff those decks want.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.77 bulk tier
At $0.77, Aura Gnarlid is firmly bulk — easy to acquire and an effortless inclusion in any enchantment deck on a budget. It's unlikely to appreciate meaningfully without a reprint that draws competitive attention, so treat it as a cheap role-player rather than a hold.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Gylwain, Casting Director
- Ellivere of the Wild Court
- Estrid, the Masked
- Mazzy, Truesword Paladin
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.