Cathars' Crusade
Enchantment
Whenever a creature you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Innistrad Remastered
- Price
- $5.96
- EDHREC rank
- #553
Cathars' Crusade turns every creature entering the battlefield into a permanent, board-wide pump — one token wave and your whole team grows out of bolt range. The five-mana cost is real, but pair it with Ashnod's Altar or Ghave, Guru of Spores and the counters spiral into a win condition, not just a buff.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Ghave, Guru of Spores
Ghave, Guru of Spores is the natural home for Cathars' Crusade — Ghave spends counters to make tokens, each token triggers the Crusade, and the new counters go back onto Ghave to make more tokens, forming a self-sustaining loop with any sacrifice outlet.
Felisa, Fang of Silverquill
Felisa, Fang of Silverquill cares specifically about creatures dying with +1/+1 counters on them, and Cathars' Crusade ensures every creature she runs has at least one — which means every death generates more tokens, which trigger more Crusade counters, compounding the engine automatically.
Myrel, Shield of Argive
Myrel, Shield of Argive makes a Soldier token on each of your turns, and Cathars' Crusade converts that steady stream of enter-the-battlefield triggers into a board that scales exponentially across a long game.
Thurid, Mare of Destiny
Thurid, Mare of Destiny rewards stacking +1/+1 counters on creatures, and Cathars' Crusade delivers a counter to every creature whenever anything new enters — letting Thurid's payoffs trigger broadly rather than requiring individual targeting.
Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn
Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn cares about creatures entering the battlefield with counters, and Cathars' Crusade guarantees every subsequent creature that enters does so with at least one — which directly feeds Eirdu's triggers without any additional setup.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Cathars' Crusade sees virtually all its play in Commander, where token strategies are endemic, games go long enough to capitalize on a five-mana enchantment, and the multiplayer card-advantage math rewards effects that scale with the number of creatures you control. In Legacy and Vintage, it's technically legal but practically absent — five mana for a conditional anthem that does nothing immediately is nowhere near the rate those formats demand. Modern has creature strategies, but the format's speed means Cathars' Crusade resolves too late and draws too much removal to be competitive. Commander is the format this card was designed for, and it shows.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Ashnod's AltarCathars' Crusade
Infinite +1/+1 counters on most creatures you control; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite colorless mana; Infinite death triggers; Infinite sacrifice triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Viscera SeerCathars' Crusade
Infinite +1/+1 counters on most creatures you control; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite death triggers; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite scry 1
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Phyrexian AltarCathars' Crusade
Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite colored mana; Infinite death triggers; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite +1/+1 counters on most creatures you control
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Basking BroodscaleCathars' Crusade
Infinite colorless mana; Infinite creature tokens; Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite +1/+1 counters on creatures you control
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Scurry OakCathars' Crusade
Infinite creature tokens; Infinite ETB; Infinite +1/+1 counters on creatures you control
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Unbreakable Formation and Flower // Flourish offer cheap, one-shot versions of the pump effect but lack the recursive power of Cathars' Crusade across multiple combat steps. Inspiring Call protects the board and draws cards in counter-heavy decks, and Hardened Scales multiplies counter accumulation at one mana — neither replaces the Crusade's engine exactly, but Scales in particular closes the gap in token-combo builds at a fraction of the price.
Price Context
Current price
$5.96 mid tier
At $5.96, Cathars' Crusade sits in the mid tier — accessible enough that it shouldn't be a sticking point for most Commander budgets, and well below where staple enchantments tend to plateau. Demand is consistent across white token and counter strategies, so the price is unlikely to crater; it's a card you buy to use, not to shop around.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Ashnod's Altar
- Ghave, Guru of Spores
- Felisa, Fang of Silverquill
- Myrel, Shield of Argive
- Thurid, Mare of Destiny
- Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn
- Viscera Seer
- Phyrexian Altar
- Basking Broodscale
- Scurry Oak
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.