Coral Barrier
Creature — Wall
Defender (This creature can't attack.)
When this creature enters, create a 1/1 blue Squid creature token with islandwalk. (It can't be blocked as long as defending player controls an Island.)
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Magic 2015
- Price
- $0.07
- EDHREC rank
- #21789
Coral Barrier enters and immediately makes a 1/1 Squid token with islandwalk, giving you two bodies for three mana — a fine rate only if your deck actually wants both a defender and a token. Outside of dedicated token or islandwalk synergy shells, it's outclassed by nearly every other three-mana blue play.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Coral Barrier is a fringe Pauper option in token-based or islandwalk-matters builds, where squeezing two bodies from one card at common has real value. In Commander it mostly underperforms — three mana for a 2/3 defender and a 1/1 is too low-impact for a 100-card singleton format unless your commander explicitly rewards tokens, defenders, or islandwalk. Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer have enough efficient blue three-drops that Coral Barrier never competes. Oathbreaker shares Commander's token logic: playable if the planeswalker cares about the pieces, ignorable otherwise.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.07 bulk tier
At $0.07, Coral Barrier is deep bulk — you're essentially getting it for free when ordering singles. That price reflects its power level accurately; don't expect it to climb.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.