Icatian Moneychanger
Creature — Human
This creature enters with three credit counters on it.
When this creature enters, it deals 3 damage to you.
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a credit counter on this creature.
Sacrifice this creature: You gain 1 life for each credit counter on this creature. Activate only during your upkeep.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Fallen Empires
- Price
- $0.21
- EDHREC rank
- #15201
Icatian Moneychanger enters and immediately loads three counters onto itself, fueling counter-hungry engines on the spot — then drains 3 life when it leaves, which is the real price of admission. In Tayam, Luminous Enigma decks that want cheap, counter-dense creatures to recur repeatedly, that life payment is a feature, not a bug.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Tayam, Luminous Enigma
Tayam, Luminous Enigma pays three counters to reanimate any permanent with mana value 3 or less, and Icatian Moneychanger enters with exactly three counters, supplying a full activation the turn it lands — then the life drain on its way out makes it a self-contained value loop when Tayam keeps pulling it back.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Icatian Moneychanger is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but its home is squarely Commander, where the counter synergies and graveyard recursion engines that want it actually exist. In Legacy and Vintage, a one-mana 1/1 that costs 3 life to keep around has no competitive footing — the card simply doesn't do enough. Pauper is legal but the same problem applies: the life loss is steep for a format where life totals are tight and the payoff for three +1/+1 counters on a 1/1 is minimal. Treat this as a Commander-only card in practice.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.21 bulk tier
At $0.21, Icatian Moneychanger is deep bulk — pick it up in any common box without thinking twice. Demand is narrow enough that the price is unlikely to move unless a new counter-synergy commander spikes its inclusion rate.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.