Giant Crab
Creature — Crab
: This creature gains shroud until end of turn. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities.)
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Beatdown Box Set
- Price
- $0.27
- EDHREC rank
- #20963
Giant Crab is a five-mana 3/3 that taps to counter target spell targeting it — reasonable protection, unremarkable body, narrow use case. Outside of Charix, the Raging Isle decks that specifically want high-CMC blue creatures to fuel their commander's power boost, Giant Crab has no competitive home.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Charix, the Raging Isle
Charix, the Raging Isle reduces its equip costs based on the total CMC of Islands and Crabs you control, making Giant Crab a double-dipper — it's both a Crab creature and a five-CMC card that inflates Charix's power, which equals your Islands count.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Giant Crab sees essentially no play outside Commander, where tribal synergy with Charix, the Raging Isle is the only reason to sleeve it up. In Legacy and Vintage, it's legal but a five-mana 3/3 with a tap-to-counter ability doesn't come close to competing. Pauper is its most permissive environment by power level, but even there Giant Crab is too slow and too narrow to slot into any viable archetype. Commander is the one context where the Crab subtype actually matters, and even then it's a role-player in one specific deck.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.27 bulk tier
At $0.27, Giant Crab is bulk — the price reflects its play rate. It won't appreciate, but it also costs nothing to pick up if you're building Charix, the Raging Isle and want the tribal count.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.