Gurmag Drowner
Creature — Snake Wizard
Exploit (When this creature enters, you may sacrifice a creature.)
When this creature exploits a creature, look at the top four cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the rest into your graveyard.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Dragons of Tarkir
- Price
- $0.06
- EDHREC rank
- #27209
Gurmag Drowner trades a three-mana exploit trigger for a repeatable topdeck lock — if you can keep feeding it bodies, opponents play off the top blind. The cost is that exploit requires sacrificing a creature you control, so it's dead weight without a steady supply of tokens or recursive fodder.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Gurmag Drowner is a Pauper-legal common, and that's where it has the most traction — exploit synergies and sacrifice-based value engines are accessible at common rarity, and the topdeck manipulation matters more in a slower format. In Commander, Gurmag Drowner belongs specifically in aristocrats or token-flood strategies where sacrifice outlets are already abundant; it's too slow and conditional to slot into generic blue decks. Competitive formats like Modern and Legacy ignore it entirely — four toughness and a sorcery-speed trigger don't clear the bar when faster threats dominate.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.06 bulk tier
At $0.06, Gurmag Drowner is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard and postage, not the card. That price holds because demand is narrow: it sees fringe Pauper play and occasional Commander niche slots, neither of which moves copies.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.