Benthic Criminologists
Creature — Merfolk Wizard
Whenever this creature enters or attacks, you may sacrifice an artifact. If you do, draw a card.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Murders at Karlov Manor
- Price
- $0.04
- EDHREC rank
- #25114
Benthic Criminologists trades itself for a look at three cards off the top and some mild graveyard disruption — the effect is real but the body is a 3/2 for four mana with no evasion. Playable only in decks that specifically want self-mill fuel or care about what they're exiling from opponents.
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 |
In Commander, Benthic Criminologists occupies a narrow niche: self-mill decks, graveyard-hate builds, and anything that rewards knowing what's in the top three cards of an opponent's library. Outside of those contexts, four mana for a vanilla 3/2 with a marginal ETB effect is well below rate. In competitive non-Commander formats — Modern, Pioneer, Legacy — it doesn't register; every format has faster, more impactful options for graveyard interaction. Pauper is the one format where its common status and cost-to-effect ratio might earn it a second look in creature-based control shells, though even there the bar is high.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.04 bulk tier
At $0.04, Benthic Criminologists is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard and postage, not the effect. The price will stay there; narrow utility cards at this rate don't move unless a combo breaks them out, and nothing about Benthic Criminologists suggests that's coming.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.