Ben-Ben, Akki Hermit
Legendary Creature — Goblin Shaman
: Ben-Ben deals damage to target attacking creature equal to the number of untapped Mountains you control.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Champions of Kamigawa
- Price
- $0.91
- EDHREC rank
- #20491
Ben-Ben, Akki Hermit turns every untapped Mountain into a direct damage source — tap him to deal damage equal to the number of untapped Mountains you control to a target attacking creature, which scales lethally in a mono-red land-heavy shell. The cost is that he does exactly one thing, dies to a stiff breeze, and only fires at attackers, making him a conditional deterrent rather than a threat.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is the only format where Ben-Ben, Akki Hermit is worth building around — mono-red land-matter decks like Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle shells or Ashaya-adjacent strategies can weaponize his tap ability as a repeatable blocker-killer and attacker deterrent late in a long game. In Legacy and Vintage he's legal but functionally invisible; no competitive deck wants a 1/1 for four mana whose ability requires untapped basic Mountains to mean anything in a format defined by fetchlands and non-basics. Modern is the same story — the card simply doesn't do enough at any point on the curve to justify inclusion. His real home has always been casual Commander tables, and at his power level that's where he stays.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.91 bulk tier
At $0.91, Ben-Ben, Akki Hermit sits firmly in bulk rare territory, and that price reflects his narrow application accurately. Demand is too low and the effect too niche to expect any upward movement — pick him up cheap if the deck calls for him, but don't expect the market to disagree with you anytime soon.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.