Ayesha Tanaka
Legendary Creature — Human Artificer
Banding (Any creatures with banding, and up to one without, can attack in a band. Bands are blocked as a group. If any creatures with banding you control are blocking or being blocked by a creature, you divide that creature's combat damage, not its controller, among any of the creatures it's being blocked by or is blocking.)
: Counter target activated ability from an artifact source unless that ability's controller pays 
. (Mana abilities can't be targeted.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- UW
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Legends
- Price
- $14.56
- EDHREC rank
- #25288
Ayesha Tanaka locks down activated abilities on artifacts your opponents control — a white staple effect stapled to a First Strike body that punishes artifact-heavy tables hard. The cost is narrow applicability: against non-artifact decks she does almost nothing.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Ayesha Tanaka earns her slot, specifically at tables running Thrasios, Triton Hero, Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy, or other commanders that lean on activated artifact abilities to generate value or assemble wins. Legacy and Vintage are legal formats but neither wants a four-mana creature whose effect is redundant next to faster, cheaper interaction — she won't see competitive play there. Oathbreaker is the one other format worth considering, where the singleton structure and lower average interaction density make her taxing static meaningful for longer stretches.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Null Rod and Stony Silence both shut off activated artifact abilities at a fraction of the mana investment, though they hit your own artifacts too and can't swing in combat. If the goal is specifically taxing rather than blanking, Collector Ouphe covers the same ground for under a dollar — Ayesha Tanaka's edge is the conditional tax rather than a hard stop, which matters if you're running your own artifact mana.
Price Context
Current price
$14.56 mid tier
At $14.56, Ayesha Tanaka sits in mid-tier pricing for a Reserved List card with a genuinely narrow application — the price is driven by scarcity and collectibility more than Commander demand. She holds value as a Reserved List singleton but don't buy in expecting Commander staple pricing to push her higher; the effect is real but the audience is small.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.