Is Ghostly Flicker good in Commander?

Ghostly Flicker in Commander — Combos, Decks & Price

Ghostly Flicker blinks two permanents for three mana at instant speed — and in the right shell, that's an infinite-mana engine the turn you assemble it. Pair it with Peregrine Drake and any enter-the-battlefield value piece and the game ends; Shiko, Paragon of the Way decks run it at over 63% inclusion because that's how often the combo is the point.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01

Shiko, Paragon of the Way

63.9% of decks · synergy 0.61

Shiko, Paragon of the Way turns every enter-the-battlefield trigger into a resource, and Ghostly Flicker is the spell that loops those triggers indefinitely once Peregrine Drake is on board.

02

Vannifar, Evolved Enigma

65.7% of decks · synergy 0.60

Vannifar, Evolved Enigma cares about casting and bouncing creatures to chain abilities, and Ghostly Flicker resets those abilities at instant speed while generating incremental value from each ETB in the chain.

03

Loot, the Pathfinder

63.8% of decks · synergy 0.59

Loot, the Pathfinder rewards repeated ETB triggers from artifacts and creatures, making Ghostly Flicker a reliable engine piece that doubles as a combat trick or protection spell in a pinch.

04

Ranar the Ever-Watchful

71.0% of decks · synergy 0.59

Ranar the Ever-Watchful creates a Spirit token every time a card is exiled from hand or the battlefield, so Ghostly Flicker's blink effect generates tokens while simultaneously resetting ETBs — exactly the loop Ranar decks want.

05

Y'shtola Rhul

64.7% of decks · synergy 0.53

Y'shtola Rhul generates value whenever creatures enter or trigger abilities, and Ghostly Flicker slots in as a repeatable ETB engine that also protects key pieces from targeted removal.

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

Ghostly Flicker is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but Commander is unambiguously where it lives. In Pauper it sees real play as the centerpiece of Ghostly Flicker combo decks built around Peregrine Drake and Archaeomancer, generating infinite mana at common rarity — that's a meaningful niche. Legacy and Vintage have faster and more redundant combo infrastructure, so Ghostly Flicker rarely competes there. In Commander, the instant speed and two-target clause make it both a combo piece and a reactive tool, which is exactly why it sits in thousands of decks.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

33,572 decks

Ghostly FlickerPeregrine Drake Archaeomancer

Infinite blinking; Infinite ETB; Infinite landfall triggers; Infinite LTB; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite mana lands you control can produce; Infinite storm count; Infinite untap of lands you control

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

15,529 decks

Ghostly FlickerDualcaster Mage

Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite landfall triggers; Infinite mana lands you control that enter the battlefield untapped can produce; Infinite blinking of artifacts; Infinite blinking of lands; Infinite blinking

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

13,932 decks

Ghostly FlickerPeregrine Drake Eternal Witness

Infinite blinking; Infinite ETB; Infinite landfall triggers; Infinite LTB; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite mana lands you control can produce; Infinite storm count; Infinite untap of lands you control

View combo details →

13,043 decks

Ghostly FlickerNaru Meha, Master Wizard

Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite landfall triggers; Infinite mana lands you control that enter the battlefield untapped can produce; Infinite blinking of artifacts; Infinite blinking of lands; Infinite blinking

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

6,408 decks

Cloud of Faeries ArchaeomancerGhostly FlickerPanharmonicon

Infinite casts of any instants and/or sorcery cards in your hand or graveyard; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite mana lands you control can produce; Infinite storm count

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$1.76 cheap tier

At $1.76, Ghostly Flicker sits in the comfortable budget tier — cheap enough to include on impulse, important enough that its price reflects genuine demand rather than bulk status. It's a staple in multiple competitive Pauper lists and a high-inclusion Commander piece, so the floor is well-supported.