Beastrider Vanguard
Creature — Human Knight
: Look at the top three cards of your library. You may reveal a permanent card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Aetherdrift
- Price
- $0.17
- EDHREC rank
- #15365
Beastrider Vanguard puts a consistent pump effect on the board the moment you start mounting creatures, and it costs next to nothing in mana to get there. In Redshift, Rocketeer Chief decks, that translates directly into a repeatable damage multiplier — this card earns its slot.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Redshift, Rocketeer Chief
Redshift, Rocketeer Chief decks run Beastrider Vanguard in 40% of lists because the mounting mechanic aligns perfectly with Redshift's reward structure — every mounted creature is both a payload and a pump trigger.
Agatha of the Vile Cauldron
Agatha of the Vile Cauldron wants creatures with activated abilities that generate value, and Beastrider Vanguard's mounting synergies feed the sacrifice and counters engine Agatha builds around.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Beastrider Vanguard is legal across every major format, but its natural home is Commander, where the mounting mechanic has room to stack triggers across a full game. In competitive 60-card formats like Modern and Pioneer, the effect is too situational and the payoff too slow to compete with purpose-built aggro packages. Pauper is where it could theoretically show up at common, though the mounting theme lacks the critical mass of support there to make it reliable. Standard is its most open non-Commander window — if a mounting-matters deck coalesces in the format, Beastrider Vanguard is an easy four-of.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.17 bulk tier
At $0.17, Beastrider Vanguard is deep bulk — buy a playset without thinking about it. Bulk rares with narrow tribal applications rarely climb unless the theme becomes a format staple, so treat this as a cheap pickup for the decks that want it, not a spec.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.