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Hateflayer

Creature — Elemental

Wither (This deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters.)
{2}{R}, {Q}: This creature deals damage equal to its power to any target. ({Q} is the untap symbol.)

CMC
7
Mana cost
{5}{R}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
rare
Set
Eventide
Price
$2.65
EDHREC rank
#15898
Buy on TCGplayer
Hateflayer card art
Hateflayer lets you tap it to deal damage equal to its power to any target — and with enough mana, that becomes a repeatable, uncounterable kill condition stapled to a single permanent. The cost is steep: five mana plus untap investment to actually weaponize it, which means Hateflayer is nearly unplayable without a shell that cheats around those restrictions, and Mairsil, the Pretender is exactly that shell.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Mairsil, the Pretender

Mairsil, the Pretender

54.1% of decks · synergy 0.54

Mairsil, the Pretender exiles Hateflayer to cage its activated ability, then copies that tap-to-deal-damage effect every turn — combined with any free untap loop, Mairsil becomes a one-card kill that bypasses combat entirely.

02
The Scorpion God

The Scorpion God

30.5% of decks · synergy 0.30

The Scorpion God wants -1/-1 counter synergies, and Hateflayer's wither means every point of damage it deals shrinks blockers permanently, feeding The Scorpion God's draw trigger while threatening lethal on anything that doesn't die cleanly.

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

Hateflayer is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but competitive play in eternal formats ignores it entirely — a five-mana 4/4 with no immediate impact doesn't survive those power-level checks. In Commander, Hateflayer is a role-player in exactly one context: untap-abuse strategies, primarily Mairsil, the Pretender, where the cage mechanic turns its activated ability into a win condition without ever needing the creature in play. Outside of that niche, it's bulk.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$2.65 cheap tier

At $2.65, Hateflayer sits in budget territory despite being a genuine combo piece in Mairsil, the Pretender decks — that price reflects how narrow its demand is, not how powerful it is in the right shell. It's a stable buy at this price if you're building the archetype.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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