Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness
Legendary Creature — Elder Dinosaur // Legendary Creature — Phyrexian Elder Dinosaur
Trample
When Etali enters, each player exiles cards from the top of their library until they exile a nonland card. You may cast any number of spells from among the nonland cards exiled this way without paying their mana costs.
: Transform Etali. Activate only as a sorcery.
- CMC
- 7
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- GR
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- March of the Machine Promos
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #746
Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness hits the table and immediately threatens to cast multiple spells from opponents' libraries for free — the front face is a nine-mana game-ender that snowballs harder the more opponents it attacks, and the back face staples a poisonous enters-the-battlefield trigger onto the transform clause for decks that cheat it in. The cost is real: nine mana is a serious ask, and Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness does nothing if it eats a blocker or a removal spell before the trigger resolves — but engines like Pantlaza, Sun-Favored that get it into play for free sidestep that problem entirely, and a loop with Mortuary turns a single attack trigger into a repeatable spell-stealing engine.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Pantlaza, Sun-Favored
Pantlaza, Sun-Favored can discover directly into Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness off a Dinosaur entering the battlefield, putting a nine-mana threat into play without spending nine mana — that alone justifies the 60% inclusion rate across Pantlaza lists.
Gishath, Sun's Avatar
Gishath, Sun's Avatar cheats Dinosaurs from the top of the library into play whenever it deals combat damage, and Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness is the single highest-impact Dinosaur you can flip into — free cast triggers from opponents' libraries stack immediately on the same swing.
Owen Grady, Raptor Trainer // Blue, Loyal Raptor
Owen Grady, Raptor Trainer // Blue, Loyal Raptor cares about Dinosaurs attacking and triggering, which aligns perfectly with the combat-damage-dependent design of Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness. Getting Etali attacking with support from Owen's buffs means the trigger fires into opponents' best cards while the Raptor subtheme rolls on.
Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers
Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers incentivize attacking with big creatures and generating value off combat, making Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness a natural top-end threat — its attack trigger is exactly the kind of free-spell advantage the deck is built to exploit.
Maelstrom Wanderer
Maelstrom Wanderer cascades twice on cast, regularly landing Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness into play for free — then Etali attacks the same turn under haste granted by Wanderer, firing the trigger before opponents have a chance to answer it.
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 |
Commander is where Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness lives — multiple opponents means multiple attack triggers, and the free spells scale exponentially with table size in ways a two-player game never replicates. In Legacy and Vintage, the card is technically legal but functionally irrelevant: nine mana is an eternity in formats defined by Brainstorm and Force of Will, and any shell capable of cheating it into play has faster, more consistent threats available. Modern and Pioneer sit in the same camp — the rate is too slow for those formats without dedicated cheat-in support, and that support doesn't exist at a competitive level there. Oathbreaker is the one 60-card format where Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness occasionally appears as a signature spell in big-mana red shells, though the 20-life starting total compresses games enough that nine mana rarely arrives in time.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal SicknessMortuaryViscera Seer
Cast any number of spells from opponents' libraries; Exile each opponent's library; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite death triggers; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite scry 1; Infinite storm count; Near-infinite magecraft triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal SicknessMortuaryAshnod's Altar
Cast any number of spells from opponents' libraries; Exile each opponent's library; Infinite colorless mana; Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite storm count; Near-infinite magecraft triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal SicknessMortuaryPhyrexian Altar
Cast any number of spells from opponents' libraries; Exile each opponent's library; Infinite colored mana; Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite storm count; Near-infinite magecraft triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal SicknessMortuaryAltar of Dementia
Cast any number of spells from opponents' libraries; Exile each opponent's library; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite death triggers; Infinite mill; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite self-mill; Infinite storm count; Near-infinite magecraft triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal SicknessHua Tuo, Honored PhysicianThornbite StaffAshnod's Altar
Cast any number of spells from opponents' libraries; Exile each opponent's library; Infinite colorless mana; Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite storm count; Near-infinite magecraft triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Price data for Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness isn't currently available in our feed, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the live market rate before buying. Historically it has tracked as a mid-to-high value mythic given its Commander demand, so confirming the current price before picking up copies is worth the thirty seconds.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.