Illustrious Historian
Creature — Human Shaman
, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a tapped 3/2 red and white Spirit creature token.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Strixhaven: School of Mages
- Price
- $0.13
- EDHREC rank
- #28502
Illustrious Historian enters as a 2/1 for two mana and replaces itself with a card when it dies — that's a clean two-for-one stapled to a body. The floor is never embarrassing, and in any shell that cares about creatures dying, the ceiling climbs fast.
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 |
In Commander, Illustrious Historian earns its slot in sacrifice and aristocrats builds that need fodder that replaces itself — it keeps your hand from emptying while fueling the grind. In Pauper, the common slot is competitive enough that a 2/1 with a death trigger has to fight for space against stronger options, but it's playable in value-based sacrifice lists. Modern and Pioneer don't have space for a two-mana 2/1 with a delayed payoff when the format demands more immediate board impact. Legacy and Vintage don't give Illustrious Historian a second look. The card is a Commander and Pauper card through and through.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.13 bulk tier
At $0.13, Illustrious Historian is pure bulk — you're buying a playset out of a common box, not off a singles site. That price is stable at zero; there's no spike scenario for a card this replaceable, but there's also no reason it ever costs more than a quarter.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.