Esior, Wardwing Familiar
Legendary Creature — Bird
Flying
Spells your opponents cast that target one or more commanders you control cost 
more to cast.
Partner (You can have two commanders if both have partner.)
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Commander Legends
- Price
- $0.80
- EDHREC rank
- #3326
Esior, Wardwing Familiar taxes every spell an opponent aims at your commander by two mana — on a one-mana body that flies and pairs as a partner. The cost is nearly nothing; the effect meaningfully extends your commander's life expectancy, and pairing Esior, Wardwing Familiar with a free commander like Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh means you're investing one mana total to make removal consistently awkward, with Kastral, the Windcrested representing the ceiling for flying-tribal shells that want both the tax and the creature type.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Kastral, the Windcrested
Kastral, the Windcrested is the natural home — it rewards running a critical mass of flying creatures, and Esior, Wardwing Familiar pulls double duty as both a synergistic bird and a tax that protects Kastral itself from targeted removal.
Choco, Seeker of Paradise
Choco, Seeker of Paradise leans on its commander surviving long enough to generate value, and Esior, Wardwing Familiar's two-mana tax makes spot removal a genuinely costly proposition for opponents trying to cut that engine short.
Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Edric, Spymaster of Trest lives and dies by surviving the first few turns, and Esior, Wardwing Familiar as a partner tax piece forces opponents to pay up or let Edric keep generating card advantage unchecked.
The Mindskinner
The Mindskinner wants its commander on the battlefield to keep applying pressure, and Esior, Wardwing Familiar's passive discourages the cheap instant-speed removal that would otherwise answer it cleanly.
Kangee, Sky Warden
Kangee, Sky Warden is a bird-tribal payoff that benefits from both the flying creature count Esior, Wardwing Familiar contributes and the protection it provides, making the one-mana investment straightforwardly correct in that shell.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is the only format where Esior, Wardwing Familiar is doing real work — the partner mechanic is Commander-exclusive in practice, and a two-mana tax on targeted spells is far more impactful when three opponents are all trying to answer your commander with cheap removal. In Legacy and Vintage, the card is technically legal but irrelevant; those formats don't run commanders, so the tax has no target and a 1/2 flyer for one mana has no competitive context. Oathbreaker gives Esior, Wardwing Familiar a slightly more relevant home since protecting a planeswalker from targeted removal matters, though the partner mechanic doesn't apply there. Stick to Commander — that's the only format where Esior, Wardwing Familiar is actually a deck-building decision.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Rograkh, Son of RohgahhEsior, Wardwing FamiliarSkyfire PhoenixCloudstone CurioPhyrexian Altar
Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite storm count
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.80 bulk tier
At $0.80, Esior, Wardwing Familiar sits at the top edge of bulk pricing — cheap enough to pick up without a second thought, but not so ubiquitous that copies flood the market and crater further. Given its consistent inclusion in bird-tribal and partner-commander builds, that price is stable; this isn't a card that's going to zero.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.