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Defiant Greatmaw

Creature — Hippo

When this creature enters, put two -1/-1 counters on target creature you control.
Whenever you put one or more -1/-1 counters on this creature, remove a -1/-1 counter from another target creature you control.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{2}{G}
Color identity
G
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Amonkhet Remastered
Price
—
EDHREC rank
#20951
Buy on TCGplayer
Defiant Greatmaw card art
Defiant Greatmaw enters as a 4/5 and immediately strips two -1/-1 counters from a creature you control — a repeatable self-fueling loop in any deck that wants counters on the board. The cost is a three-mana 4/5 with no inherent evasion, so it earns its slot only when Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons is turning those counter triggers into snake tokens or Mikaeus, the Unhallowed is pulling it back from the graveyard to loop again.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons

Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons

13.8% of decks · synergy 0.14

Every time Defiant Greatmaw redistributes -1/-1 counters onto a new creature, Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons triggers and mints a 1/1 deathtouch snake — stack enough looping pieces and a single Greatmaw entry can flood the board in a single turn.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Defiant Greatmaw is a Commander card through and through. The -1/-1 counter synergy it demands — commanders like Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons, Hapatra variants, or Atraxa builds that run the counter subtheme — exists at critical mass only in the 100-card singleton format. In Modern and Legacy it's theoretically legal but has never seen meaningful play; a three-mana 4/5 with a conditional triggered ability doesn't compete in those formats without a dedicated engine behind it, and that engine doesn't exist outside Commander. Pioneer follows the same story. Treat Defiant Greatmaw as a Commander-only piece — it's not crossing over.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

unknown tier

Pricing data isn't currently available for Defiant Greatmaw, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the current market rate. Given its narrow home in -1/-1 counter Commander builds, it has historically sat in budget territory — worth picking up if you're building that archetype, but don't expect significant demand outside it.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.