Guardian of Ghirapur
Creature — Angel
Flying
When this creature enters, exile up to one other target creature or artifact you control. Return it to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- March of the Machine
- Price
- $0.41
- EDHREC rank
- #7799
Guardian of Ghirapur flickers a nontoken creature you control at end of turn — free, repeatable, and stapled onto a 2/1 flying body for three mana. The cost is that it exiles itself when that creature returns, so you're trading a 2/1 for one extra enter-the-battlefield trigger, which is an excellent deal in any deck built around ETB abuse. Preston, the Vanisher decks in particular treat it as a one-shot engine piece that punches above its mana cost.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Preston, the Vanisher
Preston, the Vanisher creates a 0/1 Horse token whenever a non-Horse creature enters from exile, so Guardian of Ghirapur flickering any creature generates a free token on top of whatever ETB you're chaining — it's one card doing two jobs at once.
Yorion, Sky Nomad
Yorion, Sky Nomad decks are built wall-to-wall with ETB creatures, and Guardian of Ghirapur gives them a cheap, instant-speed way to rebuy the best trigger on board before it trades or gets removed.
Shilgengar, Sire of Famine
Shilgengar, Sire of Famine wants Angels sacrificed to power its ability, and Guardian of Ghirapur can flicker an Angel at end of turn to reset a sacrifice target or reuse an enters-the-battlefield effect before the loop runs dry.
Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd
Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd already wants the board full of flicker effects, and Guardian of Ghirapur adds another redundant piece that triggers on attack — both commanders compete for the same ETB real estate and reward the same payoffs.
Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines
Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines doubles every ETB trigger, which means Guardian of Ghirapur's flicker fires off two enter effects instead of one, turning a single end step into a two-for-one engine even before counting the 2/1 flyer it leaves behind.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Guardian of Ghirapur is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it's a Commander card through and through. In competitive Commander, it's a fringe inclusion — the self-exile clause means it doesn't generate infinite loops on its own, so it sits below the power ceiling of dedicated blink staples. In fair Commander pods it earns a slot in any white ETB deck as a cheap, no-mana-investment flicker that attacks in the air. In Modern and Pioneer it simply doesn't compete — three mana for a conditional one-time flicker is well below rate when those formats have access to Ephemerate and similar.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.41 bulk tier
At $0.41, Guardian of Ghirapur is bulk — pick it up without thinking twice if it fits the deck. Given its niche but real role in ETB and flicker strategies, the price is unlikely to spike dramatically, but it also won't fall further.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.