Hystrodon
Creature — Beast
Trample
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card.
Morph 
(You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for 
. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Onslaught
- Price
- $1.44
- EDHREC rank
- #19324
Hystrodon turns a single combat swing into a card draw engine — trample plus enrage-style draw on damage dealt means one unblocked hit replaces itself immediately. The five-mana price tag is real, but in any shell that can make it repeatedly unblockable or pump its power, Hystrodon pays for itself within a turn or two.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Yarus, Roar of the Old Gods
Yarus, Roar of the Old Gods gives Hystrodon haste and a power boost the turn it enters, meaning you're drawing cards the same turn you cast it — that's the whole engine in two cards.
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 |
Commander is where Hystrodon actually lives — it's a casual staple in creature-combat decks that want incremental card advantage without dedicated draw spells. Legacy and Vintage are legal in the technical sense, but a five-mana 3/4 with no immediate board impact has never been close to playable in either format. Hystrodon is a pure Commander card: slow, value-oriented, and built for games that go long enough to cash in on multiple combat steps.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.44 cheap tier
At $1.44, Hystrodon sits in the bulk-rare tier — cheap enough to slot in on a whim without budget scrutiny. Demand is narrow enough that the price is unlikely to spike, so picking one up now or later costs about the same.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.