MagicTheGathering.fyi

Biomancer's Familiar

Creature — Mutant

Activated abilities of creatures you control cost {2} less to activate. This effect can't reduce the mana in that cost to less than one mana.
{T}: The next time target creature adapts this turn, it adapts as though it had no +1/+1 counters on it.

CMC
2
Mana cost
{G}{U}
Color identity
GU
Rarity
rare
Set
Ravnica Allegiance
Price
$1.17
EDHREC rank
#3278
Buy on TCGplayer
Biomancer's Familiar card art
Biomancer's Familiar cuts the activated ability costs of your creatures in half, which in practice means commanders like Thrasios, Triton Hero // Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful go from a four-mana draw-a-card to a two-mana one — that's the difference between a slow value engine and a game-warping mana sink. The cost is a two-mana 2/2 with no protection, so it dies easily, but the effect is strong enough that most activated-ability decks want it anyway.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Thrasios, Triton HeroYoshimaru, Ever Faithful

Thrasios, Triton Hero // Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful

73.1% of decks · synergy 0.72

Thrasios, Triton Hero // Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful activates for four mana to dig and potentially drop a land — Biomancer's Familiar cuts that to two, which means any infinite-mana line immediately becomes an instant-win rather than requiring four mana per activation.

02
Kenessos, Priest of Thassa

Kenessos, Priest of Thassa

70.4% of decks · synergy 0.67

Kenessos, Priest of Thassa cheats big Krakens and Serpents into play via an activated ability, and Biomancer's Familiar halving that cost accelerates the clock by a meaningful margin in a deck that's already trying to go over the top.

03
The Pride of Hull Clade

The Pride of Hull Clade

49.1% of decks · synergy 0.46

The Pride of Hull Clade leans on activated abilities tied to evolve and adaptation mechanics, making Biomancer's Familiar a direct efficiency multiplier for the core game plan rather than a luxury include.

04
Tevesh Szat, Doom of FoolsThrasios, Triton Hero

Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools // Thrasios, Triton Hero

38.5% of decks · synergy 0.37

The Thrasios half of Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools // Thrasios, Triton Hero is the same engine as the dedicated Thrasios pairing, and Biomancer's Familiar serves the same role — turning infinite mana into infinite card selection at two mana per trigger instead of four.

05
Kenrith, the Returned King

Kenrith, the Returned King

31.4% of decks · synergy 0.29

Kenrith, the Returned King runs five activated abilities ranging from one to five mana, and Biomancer's Familiar discounts all of them, making the reanimation and haste-granting lines in particular dramatically cheaper to chain.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Biomancer's Familiar earns its keep — the format's density of commanders and creatures with activated abilities means this card finds a meaningful reduction target in nearly every game. In Modern and Pioneer it sees only fringe play, reliant on specific combo shells that want to abuse abilities on a tight budget, and it lacks the raw power to slot into fair midrange strategies in those formats. Legacy has access to strictly more powerful options for similar roles, so Biomancer's Familiar doesn't crack those lists outside of niche tribal or ability-matters builds. Oathbreaker mirrors the Commander dynamic at a smaller scale, and any planeswalker-plus-signature-spell pairing that leans on activated abilities can make use of it there.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

450 decks
Kenrith, the Returned KingSmothering TitheNyxbloom AncientBiomancer's Familiar

Kenrith, the Returned KingSmothering TitheNyxbloom AncientBiomancer's Familiar

Infinite card draw; Infinite colored mana; Infinite lifegain triggers; Infinite lifegain; Infinite card draw for any number of players; Return all creature cards from all graveyards to the battlefield under your control; Infinite draw triggers for any number of opponents; Infinite +1/+1 counters on creatures you control

View combo details →

Price Context

Current price

$1.17 cheap tier

At $1.17, Biomancer's Familiar is firmly in impulse-buy territory — the kind of card you pick up alongside an order without thinking twice. Its price reflects consistent casual demand rather than competitive staple status, and that steady floor makes it unlikely to crater further.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

← All cards

Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.