Cryptbreaker
Creature — Zombie
, 
, Discard a card: Create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.
Tap three untapped Zombies you control: You draw a card and you lose 1 life.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Historic Anthology 1
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #2008
Cryptbreaker is a one-mana zombie that generates card advantage and pumps the team — the ceiling is high for how little it costs to include. Temmet, Naktamun's Will decks run it as a repeatable draw engine that doubles as a zombie token factory, and that combination of roles on a one-drop is exactly what tribal decks want.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Temmet, Naktamun's Will
Temmet, Naktamun's Will is a zombie-token engine at its core, and Cryptbreaker feeds both halves — it produces the zombie tokens Temmet wants to buff and tax opponents with, while the tap-three-zombies ability converts board presence into card draw before attacks even happen.
Varina, Lich Queen
Varina, Lich Queen already rewards you for running a critical mass of zombies, and Cryptbreaker slots in as a one-drop that produces more zombies to attack with while providing a second draw outlet when Varina's combat trigger isn't available.
Zul Ashur, Lich Lord
Zul Ashur, Lich Lord cares about the zombie count on the battlefield, so Cryptbreaker's token generation directly scales the commander's power while the discard-to-draw ability keeps the hand stocked on turns when you can't attack.
Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver
Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver rewards you for zombies dying, and Cryptbreaker feeds that loop — you tap the tokens Cryptbreaker makes to draw cards, then sacrifice them to Wilhelt triggers for even more value across the board.
Ghoulcaller Gisa
Ghoulcaller Gisa wants fodder to sacrifice for zombie hordes, and Cryptbreaker provides a steady supply of 2/2 zombie tokens while the draw ability keeps your hand full when Gisa's activation eats through your creature count.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Cryptbreaker is a staple in any black zombie build — a one-mana creature that produces tokens and draws cards is a structural piece, not a flex slot. In Modern and Pioneer, dedicated zombie tribal decks have run it as a one-of or two-of to enable early curve-outs and late-game card filtering, though it competes for space in faster shells. Legacy has enough one-drop density that Cryptbreaker rarely sees play outside niche tribal lists, where faster strategies simply outpace it. Oathbreaker functions similarly to Commander here — zombie-focused builds want it for the same reasons.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Cryptbreaker's price isn't currently tracked in this data set, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the current market rate before picking up copies. Given its consistent 80%+ inclusion in Temmet, Naktamun's Will decks and strong showing across multiple zombie commanders, it tends to hold value as a tribal staple rather than fluctuating wildly.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.