Cephalid Inkmage
Creature — Octopus Wizard
When this creature enters, surveil 3. (Look at the top three cards of your library, then put any number of them into your graveyard and the rest on top of your library in any order.)
Threshold — This creature can't be blocked as long as there are seven or more cards in your graveyard.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Foundations
- Price
- $0.11
- EDHREC rank
- #15617
Cephalid Inkmage puts a -1/-1 counter on a creature when it deals combat damage to a player — repeatable, free shrinking every time it connects. The cost is that a 1/2 for three mana rarely connects more than once without protection, which makes it heavily dependent on evasion or untap support; Octavia, Living Thesis decks provide exactly that.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Octavia, Living Thesis
Octavia, Living Thesis turns every instant and sorcery cast into an 8/8 buff trigger, and Cephalid Inkmage slots in as a cheap creature that benefits from that size boost while threatening -1/-1 counters every time it gets through — the deck wants creatures that punish unblocked hits, and Inkmage delivers.
Runo Stromkirk
Runo Stromkirk wants a critical mass of creatures with power 4 or greater to flip and start copying sea monsters, and Cephalid Inkmage fills out the creature count cheaply while the -1/-1 counter ability gives it a relevant late-game role even after the flip engine is online.
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 |
Cephalid Inkmage is legal in every major format but sees play almost exclusively in Commander, where the multiplayer table gives it multiple opponents to ping and synergy-heavy builds like Octavia can exploit repeated damage triggers. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer, a 1/2 for three mana that requires combat damage to do anything is far too slow to matter — those formats have threats that close games by turn three or four. Commander is the one context where grinding out -1/-1 counters over several turns is worth the setup.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.11 bulk tier
At $0.11, Cephalid Inkmage is pure bulk — you're paying for the effect, not the card. Bulk rares and uncommons with narrow appeal rarely move off the floor, so don't expect this to spike.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Octavia, Living Thesis
- Runo Stromkirk
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.