Aven Initiate
Creature — Bird Warrior
Flying
Embalm 
(, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie Bird Warrior with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Double Masters 2022
- Price
- $0.05
- EDHREC rank
- #27259
Aven Initiate is a 3/1 flying token factory that costs five mana for a creature you'll almost never want to cast — the embalm ability is the only reason it exists, and even then a 3/1 flier for five in the graveyard is a weak rate. Bulk filler.
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 |
Aven Initiate is unplayed across every competitive format — five mana for a 3/1 flier is unacceptable in Legacy, Modern, or Pioneer, and embalm offers no meaningful recovery at that cost. Pauper is the only format where commons get a longer look, but even there the rate is too poor to justify a slot. In Commander, Aven Initiate occasionally appears in embalm or Aven tribal lists, but it competes with substantially stronger embalm creatures and rarely makes the cut in any deck that cares about efficiency.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.05 bulk tier
At $0.05, Aven Initiate is deep bulk — you're paying for the cardboard, not the effect. That price won't move; there's no competitive demand to drive it anywhere.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.