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Bog Initiate

Creature — Human Wizard

{1}: Add {B}.

CMC
2
Mana cost
{1}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
common
Set
Invasion
Price
$0.17
EDHREC rank
#17625
Buy on TCGplayer
Bog Initiate card art
Bog Initiate converts any color of mana into black, which sounds narrow until you realize how many combo loops need exactly that bridge — pay one generic, make black, repeat. The cost is real: a 1/1 body with no other text is dead weight outside a dedicated engine, and Reassembling Skeleton or any recursive creature does more work for the same slot unless Ashnod, Flesh Mechanist is your commander.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Ashnod, Flesh Mechanist

Ashnod, Flesh Mechanist

34.7% of decks · synergy 0.34

Ashnod, Flesh Mechanist generates colorless mana from sacrifice triggers, and Bog Initiate closes the color gap so that colorless can pay for black-pip activations mid-loop — it shows up in over a third of Ashnod decks for exactly that reason.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Bog Initiate is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but it only earns a slot in one of them. Commander is where Bog Initiate actually sees play, exclusively in sacrifice-loop decks that need a one-drop mana converter to execute a combo line without hitting a color requirement. In Pauper the card is technically legal but never played — the format's combo shells don't need a colorless-to-black bridge, and a 1/1 for one contributes nothing to any aggro or control strategy. Legacy and Vintage have access to strictly better mana fixing and simply have no reason to run it.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

192 decks
Ozox, the Clattering KingAshnod's AltarBog Initiate

Ozox, the Clattering KingAshnod's AltarBog Initiate

Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite death triggers; Infinite colorless mana; Infinite storm count; Infinite black mana

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$0.17 bulk tier

At $0.17, Bog Initiate is deep bulk — the kind of card you pull from a common box rather than order. It won't appreciate; it's a single-printing niche enabler with a small ceiling on demand.

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Sources

Mentioned

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