Benevolent River Spirit
Creature — Spirit
As an additional cost to cast this spell, waterbend 
. (While paying a waterbend cost, you can tap your artifacts and creatures to help. Each one pays for 
.)
Flying, ward 
(Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays .)
When this creature enters, scry 2.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Price
- $0.15
- EDHREC rank
- #19570
Benevolent River Spirit lands as a hexproof-granting aura or creature effect that protects your board at a low mana cost. Straightforward, budget-friendly insurance — run it when you need redundancy on protection effects.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Benevolent River Spirit is legal across Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Standard, and Vintage, but its home is Commander where protecting a key creature over multiple turns actually matters. In 1v1 formats like Modern or Pioneer, a single protection effect rarely justifies a card slot against the density of removal those formats demand. Commander is where Benevolent River Spirit earns its keep — one well-timed activation can save a commander from a boardwipe or targeted removal, turning a tempo loss into a tempo gain across a long game.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.15 bulk tier
At $0.15, Benevolent River Spirit sits firmly in bulk territory — you're paying almost nothing for the effect. Bulk rares and commons at this price point don't hold or gain value, so treat it as a pure gameplay pick rather than anything to acquire speculatively.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.