Hired Giant
Creature — Giant
When this creature enters, each other player may search their library for a land card and put that card onto the battlefield. Then each player who searched their library this way shuffles.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Mercadian Masques
- Price
- $0.35
- EDHREC rank
- #16810
Hired Giant puts a 4/4 body on the board for four mana — respectable rate — but the triggered ability hands each opponent a basic land on entry, ramping your entire table before you've done anything. Outside of decks that specifically exploit the downside, River Song being the poster child, this is a card you run for the drawback, not despite it.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
River Song
River Song's ability triggers off spells cast from the top of your library, and Hired Giant's "give opponents basics" clause is a feature here — stacking the top of your deck matters more than the table ramping one land, making Hired Giant a cheap, synergistic body in that engine.
The Beamtown Bullies
The Beamtown Bullies pitches creatures from your hand into opponents' graveyards to reanimate at their untap step, and Hired Giant is exactly the kind of undercosted beater with a punishing downside you want to donate — your opponent gets the 4/4 but also has to give everyone basics, weaponizing the drawback against the table.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Hired Giant is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but Legacy and Vintage have zero interest in a four-mana 4/4 that ramps opponents — those formats kill you before basics matter. Commander is the only real home, and even there Hired Giant is a niche card: it slots into decks that profit from the land-gifting trigger, not generalist red stompy shells. Oathbreaker could theoretically use it in a ramp-denial or group-hug subgame, but the effect is too symmetrical and the body too unimpressive to compete with purpose-built options.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.35 bulk tier
At $0.35, Hired Giant is deep bulk — you'll find it in any dollar bin or throw-in trade. The price is unlikely to move meaningfully given its narrow application; pick it up whenever you need it, don't worry about timing.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- River Song
- The Beamtown Bullies
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.