Avenging Hunter
Creature — Dragon Ranger
Trample
When this creature enters, you take the initiative.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate
- Price
- $6.00
- EDHREC rank
- #14819
Avenging Hunter enters as a 4/3 with reach and immediately puts a poison counter on any opponent you choose — no combat required, no hoops to jump through. Five mana for that combination of body and direct poison pressure is the going rate, and it pays off in any deck that wants to close out games through the infect axis.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Avenging Hunter is a Commander and Pauper card — full stop. In Commander, the free poison counter targets any opponent, which means it disrupts the whole table in dedicated infect builds and contributes immediately even if Hunter never swings. Pauper has a functional infect archetype at common, and a five-mana 4/3 reach with an enter-the-battlefield poison trigger fits the top end of that curve. Legacy and Vintage are legal but irrelevant — both formats are far too fast for a five-mana creature that doesn't win the game on the spot.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Plague Stinger is the most direct budget comparison — two mana for an infect flier that pressures the poison count through combat rather than on entry, trading Avenging Hunter's guaranteed trigger for evasion and a much lower cost. Ichor Rats is the other clean substitute: three mana, gives every opponent a poison counter simultaneously, and works in any infect shell, though it lacks the 4/3 body and reach that make Avenging Hunter a legitimate blocker.
Price Context
Current price
$6.00 mid tier
At $6.00, Avenging Hunter sits in the mid tier — meaningful for a common, but it's the only card at this rarity that deals poison to a chosen opponent on entry without needing combat. The price is stable because demand is narrow and concentrated in Commander infect builds, so it holds value as long as that archetype stays active but won't spike without a direct reprint or major metagame shift.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.