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Gravelgill Axeshark

Creature — Merfolk Soldier

Persist (When this creature dies, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a -1/-1 counter on it.)

CMC
5
Mana cost
{4}{U/B}
Color identity
BU
Rarity
common
Set
Shadowmoor
Price
$0.17
EDHREC rank
#29588
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Gravelgill Axeshark card art
Gravelgill Axeshark enters as a 4/3 with persist, meaning it comes back once with a -1/-1 counter — and that recursive loop is the entire reason to run it. Outside of combo setups like Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, a six-mana 4/3 with no enters-the-battlefield effect is simply not a card.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper legal
oathbreaker legal

Gravelgill Axeshark sees essentially zero play outside Commander, where the persist-combo ecosystem is deep enough to justify a six-mana 4/3 with no other text. In Legacy and Vintage it's outclassed by faster, cheaper persist pieces, and in Pauper the common card pool lacks the high-powered sacrifice outlets and counter-manipulation needed to make the loop competitive. Commander is the only format where the support structure — free sac outlets, Mikaeus-style counter removal, death-trigger payoffs — is dense and accessible enough to give Gravelgill Axeshark a real role.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.17 bulk tier

At $0.17, Gravelgill Axeshark is deep bulk — the price of a card nobody needs more than one copy of. It'll stay at this floor indefinitely unless a new combo enabler pushes persist packages into wider adoption.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.