Basilica Guards
Creature — Human Soldier
Defender
Extort (Whenever you cast a spell, you may pay 
. If you do, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain that much life.)
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Gatecrash
- Price
- $0.12
- EDHREC rank
- #15257
Basilica Guards is a 1/4 vigilance blocker for four mana — it stops early aggression and never taps to do it. That rate is too expensive for anything but the most dedicated extort or life-gain shells.
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 |
Pauper is where Basilica Guards sees its most legitimate play, slotting into orzhov extort decks that want a sticky body to trigger multiple extort instances while holding the ground. In Commander, the card is too fair — four mana for a 1/4 is not a rate any 100-card deck needs unless it's counting extort triggers religiously, and even then cheaper extort creatures exist. Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, and Vintage simply have no room for it; the competition at the four-drop slot is brutal and Basilica Guards offers nothing those formats can't find better elsewhere.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.12 bulk tier
At $0.12, Basilica Guards is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard and nothing else. The price reflects exactly what it is: a common that sees fringe pauper play and won't move regardless of demand.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.