Bone-Cairn Butcher
Creature — Demon
Mobilize 2 (Whenever this creature attacks, create two tapped and attacking 1/1 red Warrior creature tokens. Sacrifice them at the beginning of the next end step.)
Attacking tokens you control have deathtouch.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BRW
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Tarkir: Dragonstorm
- Price
- $0.33
- EDHREC rank
- #4755
Bone-Cairn Butcher puts a repeatable token-on-death engine on the board for three mana — every creature that dies becomes a 2/2 Skeleton, and in a format full of sacrifice and combat, that clock adds up fast. Zurgo, Thunder's Decree decks run it at nearly 85% inclusion for good reason: the Butcher turns every trade in combat into board presence rather than board loss.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Zurgo, Thunder's Decree
Zurgo, Thunder's Decree is built around attacking and trading, which makes Bone-Cairn Butcher an automatic include — every creature that dies in combat generates a fresh 2/2 Skeleton, so the board never actually shrinks after a swing.
Zurgo Stormrender
Zurgo Stormrender cares about tokens and sacrifice, and Bone-Cairn Butcher feeds both sides of that engine by converting each dying creature into a new body ready to be spent again.
Neriv, Heart of the Storm
Neriv, Heart of the Storm rewards aggressive creature strategies where attrition is constant, and Bone-Cairn Butcher converts that attrition into a steady Skeleton stream that keeps Neriv's attacks threatening.
Caesar, Legion's Emperor
Caesar, Legion's Emperor runs wide and sacrifices tokens for value, and Bone-Cairn Butcher extends that loop by replacing each spent creature with a 2/2 Skeleton before Caesar's trigger even resolves.
Neriv, Crackling Vanguard
Neriv, Crackling Vanguard operates in a similar attack-and-exploit space, and Bone-Cairn Butcher ensures the board refills automatically after each combative exchange.
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 |
In Commander, Bone-Cairn Butcher is a role-player rather than a build-around, but it fits cleanly into any black deck that expects creatures to trade or be sacrificed — which is most of them. Competitive 60-card formats like Modern and Pioneer have faster clocks and more targeted interaction, so a three-mana 3/2 that makes tokens only on death rarely makes the cut outside of dedicated sacrifice shells. In Legacy and Vintage, the card is legal but the power bar sits too high for a mid-rate token generator to see serious play. Standard is where the card has its most accessible niche outside Commander: if a sacrifice or death-trigger archetype is viable in the format, Bone-Cairn Butcher slides into it at a low curve slot without competing for a premium slot.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.33 bulk tier
At $0.33, Bone-Cairn Butcher is firmly bulk — easy to pick up as a four-of or a Commander singleton without any budget consideration. Bulk rares with a narrow archetype home tend to stay in this range, so there's no reason to hoard copies speculatively.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Zurgo, Thunder's Decree
- Zurgo Stormrender
- Neriv, Heart of the Storm
- Caesar, Legion's Emperor
- Neriv, Crackling Vanguard
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.