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Grist, the Hunger Tide

Legendary Planeswalker — Grist

As long as Grist isn't on the battlefield, it's a 1/1 Insect creature in addition to its other types.
+1: Create a 1/1 black and green Insect creature token, then mill a card. If an Insect card was milled this way, put a loyalty counter on Grist and repeat this process.
−2: You may sacrifice a creature. When you do, destroy target creature or planeswalker.
−5: Each opponent loses life equal to the number of creature cards in your graveyard.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{1}{B}{G}
Color identity
BG
Rarity
mythic
Set
Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander
Price
$0.41
EDHREC rank
#1840
Buy on TCGplayer
Grist, the Hunger Tide card art
Grist, the Hunger Tide mills, makes Insect tokens, and removes creatures — all on one card that counts as an Insect in every zone but the battlefield, which is the detail that makes it absurd. The cost is near zero: at bulk price and legal in every relevant format, the only reason not to run it in an Insect or graveyard shell is if you already have Agatha's Soul Cauldron doing something more important with that slot, and even then you probably want both.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Zask, Skittering Swarmlord

Zask, Skittering Swarmlord

89.4% of decks · synergy 0.80

Zask, Skittering Swarmlord triggers off Insects dying or entering from the graveyard, and Grist, the Hunger Tide supplies both — milling Insects into the yard and producing tokens that feed the engine every turn.

03

Grist, Voracious Larva

69.5% of decks · synergy 0.60

Grist, Voracious Larva cares about Insects and planeswalkers, and Grist, the Hunger Tide satisfies both clauses — it's a planeswalker that doubles as an Insect in the library or graveyard, giving the Larva redundant payoffs.

04
Aatchik, Emerald Radian

Aatchik, Emerald Radian

67.7% of decks · synergy 0.59

Aatchik, Emerald Radian scales on Insects entering the battlefield, and Grist, the Hunger Tide's plus ability reliably manufactures a fresh token every turn to keep that count climbing.

05
Disa the Restless

Disa the Restless

64.2% of decks · synergy 0.57

Disa the Restless wants creatures in the graveyard to reanimate as Lhurgoyf tokens, and Grist, the Hunger Tide's self-mill feeds that yard while also providing removal to put opposing threats in range of Disa's recursion trigger.

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 not legal
oathbreaker legal

In Commander, Grist, the Hunger Tide earns a slot in any Insect, graveyard, or -1/-1 counter shell — the planeswalker-counts-as-Insect clause is uniquely relevant here because tribal synergies that count card types in the graveyard or library get a freeroll. In Modern, it sees play in Yawgmoth, Thran Physician combo lists as a recursive threat that feeds sacrifice loops and generates board presence without spending a creature slot. Legacy play is narrow but real in fair Jund-style piles that want a cheap value planeswalker doubling as a clock. Oathbreaker is arguably its best non-Commander home — as the Oathbreaker itself, Grist, the Hunger Tide generates tokens and removal in a format where planeswalker loyalty ticks up fast.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.41 bulk tier

At $0.41, Grist, the Hunger Tide is deep bulk — a card with legitimate competitive Modern play and near-universal Insect-deck inclusion priced like a draft common. That gap between utility and cost is unlikely to last; pick up copies now if any of your decks can use it.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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