Fishliver Oil
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature (Target a creature as you cast this. This card enters attached to that creature.)
Enchanted creature has islandwalk. (It can't be blocked as long as defending player controls an Island.)
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Arabian Nights
- Price
- $6.42
- EDHREC rank
- #16915
Fishliver Oil grants islandwalk and the Fish creature type to any creature — a cheap aura that turns a threat unblockable in most blue-heavy metas. Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood decks run it because making a large creature unblockable for one mana is frequently the entire game plan.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood
Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood cares about creatures dealing combat damage to players, and Fishliver Oil is the cheapest reliable way to push Xolatoyac itself through a board — 18% of Xolatoyac decks include it precisely because one mana for unconditional evasion in a format full of blue is that good.
Eluge, the Shoreless Sea
Eluge, the Shoreless Sea wants creatures to connect, and Fishliver Oil pulling double duty as both an islandwalk enabler and a Fish-type grant slots cleanly into any synergy Eluge builds around that creature type.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Fishliver Oil earns its slot in exactly one context: decks that need cheap evasion against a table where blue permanents are common, which — realistically — is most tables. Outside Commander, it sees essentially no competitive play: Legacy, Vintage, and Modern have faster, more flexible ways to push damage, and one-mana auras that don't replace themselves aren't pulling weight in those formats. Pauper is the one non-Commander format where Fishliver Oil could theoretically appear, but islandwalk is unreliable there without a way to force blue lands into play. Stick to Commander, specifically blue-heavy tribal or voltron shells.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Fishliver Oil's job — cheap islandwalk on a creature — can be replicated by Distortion Strike, which costs one mana and makes a creature unblockable for two turns without relying on opponent land types, though it's a one-shot rather than a permanent grant. If the Fish subtype matters to your deck, there's no direct swap; if pure evasion is the goal, Aqueous Form does the same islandwalk-adjacent work for one mana while also filtering draws.
Price Context
Current price
$6.42 mid tier
At $6.42, Fishliver Oil sits in mid-tier pricing for what is functionally a niche one-mana aura — that price reflects its age and scarcity rather than competitive demand. It holds value in the sense that casual and Commander supply is thin, but there's no pressure to buy at this price unless you're building Xolatoyac or a Fish-tribal shell where the type line matters.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.