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Bloodline Pretender

Artifact Creature — Shapeshifter

Changeling (This card is every creature type.)
As this creature enters, choose a creature type.
Whenever another creature you control of the chosen type enters, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{3}
Color identity
C
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Kaldheim
Price
$1.14
EDHREC rank
#1768
Buy on TCGplayer
Bloodline Pretender card art
Bloodline Pretender enters as a copy of any creature type you name, then grows a +1/+1 counter every time another creature of that type enters — it's a free-rolling anthem-on-a-stick that scales with the density of your tribe. The cost is that it does nothing in isolation, so you run it in decks that already flood the board with a single type, not as a standalone threat; Magda, Brazen Outlaw and Wick, the Whorled Mind are the clearest homes.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Wick, the Whorled Mind

Wick, the Whorled Mind

49.6% of decks · synergy 0.48

Wick, the Whorled Mind creates a flood of Assassin tokens, and Bloodline Pretender naming Assassin turns every new token into a +1/+1 counter on an ever-growing beater sitting alongside them.

02
Magda, Brazen Outlaw

Magda, Brazen Outlaw

36.1% of decks · synergy 0.34

Magda, Brazen Outlaw cares about Dwarves tapping to generate Treasure, and Bloodline Pretender naming Dwarf makes it a cheap, self-scaling body that contributes to Magda's tap count while outgrowing blockers.

03
Muerra, Trash Tactician

Muerra, Trash Tactician

29.2% of decks · synergy 0.28

Muerra, Trash Tactician leans on a single creature type to fuel her discard-and-reanimate engine, and Bloodline Pretender drops in as a flex tribal member that accumulates counters passively while the engine runs.

04
Ayula, Queen Among Bears

Ayula, Queen Among Bears

26.8% of decks · synergy 0.26

Ayula, Queen Among Bears triggers off every Bear entering the battlefield, and Bloodline Pretender naming Bear is a bear itself — each new arrival pumps it while simultaneously triggering Ayula's fight or counter effects.

05
Grist, the Hunger Tide

Grist, the Hunger Tide

24.9% of decks · synergy 0.24

Grist, the Hunger Tide mills and recurs Insects, and Bloodline Pretender naming Insect slots in as a low-cost threat that grows as Grist's ability generates more Insect tokens or mills creatures back into play.

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

Bloodline Pretender is a Commander card through and through — the payoff requires a tribal density that only 99-card singleton decks reliably assemble, and the counter accumulation compounds over a long game in ways 60-card formats rarely allow. In Modern and Pioneer, three mana for a 2/2 with a conditional growth clause simply doesn't clear the rate threshold; aggressive tribal decks in those formats want lords that pump the whole team immediately. Legacy and Vintage are too fast for Bloodline Pretender to matter at all. Stick to Commander, where naming the right type on turn three and watching it become a 6/6 by turn seven is a real and recurring outcome.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

9 decks
Xavier Sal, Infested CaptainIntruder AlarmBloodline Pretender

Xavier Sal, Infested CaptainIntruder AlarmBloodline Pretender

Infinite ETB; Infinite creature tokens; Infinite untap of creatures; Infinite mana creatures you control can produce; Infinite copies of creature tokens you control; Infinite untap of creatures you control

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$1.14 cheap tier

At $1.14, Bloodline Pretender sits at a price that reflects its narrow-but-real demand — it's a staple in specific tribal builds without broad enough appeal to push higher. It's a clean pickup for any deck that wants it; there's no reason to hesitate at this tier.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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