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Ayara, First of Locthwain

Legendary Creature — Elf Noble

Whenever Ayara or another black creature you control enters, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
{T}, Sacrifice another black creature: Draw a card.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{B}{B}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
rare
Set
Throne of Eldraine Promos
Price
$9.59
EDHREC rank
#811
Buy on TCGplayer
Ayara, First of Locthwain card art
Ayara, First of Locthwain drains the table every time a black creature enters under your control and doubles as a sacrifice outlet that converts creatures into cards — three mana for an engine that generates value the moment it lands. Pair her with a token factory like Warren Soultrader or Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder and the life loss becomes a win condition without any other pieces.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder

Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder

77.5% of decks · synergy 0.52

Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder floods the board with Thrull tokens on every creature cast, and Ayara, First of Locthwain turns each one into an immediate drain trigger — the two together form a self-sustaining loop that can close a game without combat.

02
Beledros Witherbloom

Beledros Witherbloom

52.5% of decks · synergy 0.49

Beledros Witherbloom's life-payment theme and token generation feed directly into Ayara, First of Locthwain's drain-on-entry trigger, converting incidental life loss into lethal pressure across the table.

03
Ratadrabik of Urborg

Ratadrabik of Urborg

51.2% of decks · synergy 0.47

Ratadrabik of Urborg creates token copies of legendary creatures whenever they die, and each token entering triggers Ayara, First of Locthwain — stack enough reanimation loops and the drain adds up fast.

04
Totentanz, Swarm Piper

Totentanz, Swarm Piper

48.3% of decks · synergy 0.47

Totentanz, Swarm Piper generates Rat tokens from your opponents' spells and deaths, giving Ayara, First of Locthwain a steady stream of black creatures entering the battlefield that weren't yours to cast.

05
Acererak the Archlich

Acererak the Archlich

69.0% of decks · synergy 0.43

Acererak the Archlich re-enters the battlefield repeatedly until the dungeon condition is met, and every re-entry fires Ayara, First of Locthwain's drain trigger — making the dungeon grind incidentally lethal.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Ayara, First of Locthwain earns her reputation — three opponents means each drain trigger hits for three life total, and black creature-heavy strategies like aristocrats or mono-black tokens make those triggers relentless. In Modern and Pioneer, she's legal but competes against faster, more redundant threats; she sees only fringe play there because three mana for an effect that requires board development is too slow against aggressive and combo-centric fields. Legacy and Vintage offer wider card pools but also faster clocks and better outlets, so she rarely shows up in those formats either. Oathbreaker is an interesting exception: as a planeswalker-focused format with frequent creature spells, a well-placed Ayara can accumulate damage efficiently. Standard and Pauper are off the table, but she doesn't need them — Commander is the format built for what she does.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

8,796 decks
Ayara, First of LocthwainPlague of Vermin

Ayara, First of LocthwainPlague of Vermin

Near-infinite creature tokens for all players; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite lifegain; Near-infinite lifegain triggers; Near-infinite lifeloss

View on Commander Spellbook ↗
1,094 decks
Acererak the ArchlichAyara, First of LocthwainBontu's MonumentK'rrik, Son of YawgmothHeartless Summoning

Acererak the ArchlichAyara, First of LocthwainBontu's MonumentK'rrik, Son of YawgmothHeartless Summoning

Infinite card draw; Infinite draw triggers; Near-infinite +1/+1 counters; Near-infinite colored mana; Near-infinite creature tokens; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite lifegain; Near-infinite lifegain triggers; Near-infinite lifeloss; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite storm count; Near-infinite Treasure tokens; Near-infinite ventures into the dungeon

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

If Ayara, First of Locthwain is out of budget range, Zulaport Cutthroat and Blood Artist both replicate the drain-on-death half of her effect for under $1 each, though neither provides the card-draw sacrifice outlet or triggers on entry rather than death. The trade-off is real: you lose the enters-the-battlefield drain and the built-in card advantage, so you'll need to supplement with a separate sacrifice engine to do the same work.

Price Context

Current price

$9.59 mid tier

At $9.59, Ayara, First of Locthwain sits in the mid tier — justifiable for the amount of work she does in mono-black and aristocrats Commander builds. She's held steady in that range because the demand is consistent without being explosive, so this is a fair price to pay rather than a spike to time.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.