Hightide Hermit
Creature — Crab
Defender
When this creature enters, you get 
(four energy counters).
Pay : This creature can attack this turn as though it didn't have defender.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $0.17
- EDHREC rank
- #21653
Hightide Hermit lands as a 4/4 with two 1/1 Crab tokens — five power and toughness spread across three bodies for five mana, with the tokens generating free mana if you have an Island. The cost is real: five mana for a slow, sorcery-speed setup, so Hightide Hermit earns its slot only in decks that specifically want Island-producing tokens or a high-toughness body like Charix, the Raging Isle can exploit.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Charix, the Raging Isle
Charix, the Raging Isle's power equals the number of Islands you control, and Hightide Hermit delivers two Island-producing tokens on entry — a clean two-point pump that also pays back mana each turn you tap them.
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 |
Hightide Hermit is a Commander card through and through — the Crab tribal synergies, Island payoffs, and token generation are too slow and too narrow for competitive Constructed formats. In Pauper, the common slot is brutally efficient and five mana for a split body rarely clears the bar, so it stays on the bench there too. Commander is where the card breathes: token doublers, Crab tribal packages, and any Island-matters commander give Hightide Hermit a reason to exist. Outside of a dedicated shell, it's still fringe — most blue Commander decks have no shortage of five-drops that do more.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.17 bulk tier
At $0.17, Hightide Hermit is deep bulk — buy a playset for under a dollar and never think about the price again. Demand is narrow enough that this number is unlikely to move unless a Crab tribal commander breaks out, so treat it as a cheap role-player rather than a pickup with upside.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.