Great Sable Stag
Creature — Elk
This spell can't be countered.
Protection from blue and from black (This creature can't be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, or enchanted by anything blue or black.)
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Magic 2010
- Price
- $0.34
- EDHREC rank
- #22844
Great Sable Stag is a 3/3 for three that can't be countered and is protection from blue and black — a clean, self-sufficient threat that demands an answer rather than asking permission to exist. Three mana for those keywords is efficient, and the built-in counterspell immunity means it lands against control every single time.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Great Sable Stag is a meta-dependent include — it shines at tables where blue counterspell decks and black removal dominate, but a 3/3 with no enters-the-battlefield effect and no scaling is easy to ignore as the game goes long. Legacy and Vintage are where this card was actually designed to compete: both formats historically feature blue-black control shells, and uncounterable threats that dodge Swords to Plowshares and Hymn to Tourach are exactly what aggressive green strategies want. Modern has moved too far past a vanilla 3/3 for it to see serious play. Wherever permission and edict effects are the primary interaction, Great Sable Stag punishes the opponent's entire game plan just by existing.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.34 bulk tier
At $0.34, Great Sable Stag is deep bulk — you're paying for the effect, not the card. It's unlikely to appreciate unless a format shift suddenly rewards cheap uncounterable threats, so pick it up freely and don't expect it to hold that price as anything other than a floor.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.