Drake Hatcher
Creature — Human Wizard
Vigilance, prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, put that many incubation counters on it.
Remove three incubation counters from this creature: Create a 2/2 blue Drake creature token with flying.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Foundations
- Price
- $0.25
- EDHREC rank
- #12217
Drake Hatcher enters, steals a flying creature from a graveyard, and turns it against its owner's team — all stapled to a 3/3 body for five mana. That rate is fair, not exciting, but in Balmor, Battlemage Captain spellslinger shells where instant-speed graveyard theft doubles as both a threat and a pump trigger, Drake Hatcher earns its slot.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Balmor, Battlemage Captain
Every instant or sorcery you cast grows your board, so Drake Hatcher's enter-the-battlefield trigger isn't just a stolen flier — it's a free pump spell stapled to a creature, letting Balmor's ability fire while you extend your board presence.
Alandra, Sky Dreamer
Alandra, Sky Dreamer rewards drawing multiple cards per turn with a Drake token — but it also wants as many flying bodies as possible on the field, making Drake Hatcher's stolen flier exactly the kind of free aerial threat that closes games.
Bria, Riptide Rogue
Bria, Riptide Rogue cares about putting creatures with evasion into play, and Drake Hatcher delivers a ready-made flying attacker without spending an additional card — stealing a graveyard threat is gravy on top.
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 |
In Commander, Drake Hatcher fits neatly into Izzet spellslinger and Dimir reanimator strategies that already traffic in opponents' graveyards — three to five targets are almost always available at a multiplayer table, and stealing a flier from the best-resourced player creates both tempo and politics. In competitive 1v1 formats like Modern and Pioneer, a five-mana 3/3 with a conditional ETB trigger doesn't clear the bar — the effect is too slow and too dependent on what opponents have discarded. Legacy and Vintage run the same problem at higher speed, and there's nothing broken enough here to abuse. Standard is where the math gets interesting for a short window, since a five-drop that produces two bodies can matter in board-stall games, but Drake Hatcher will always be a sideboard consideration at best in constructed, not a main-deck staple.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.25 bulk tier
At $0.25, Drake Hatcher is firmly bulk — a pickup you grab by the playset without thinking. Niche casual demand from Balmor and Alandra lists keeps it from hitting the dollar bin, but don't expect that floor to move.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.