Invader Parasite
Creature — Phyrexian Insect
Imprint — When this creature enters, exile target land.
Whenever a land an opponent controls with the same name as the exiled card enters, this creature deals 2 damage to that player.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- New Phyrexia
- Price
- $0.22
- EDHREC rank
- #18962
Invader Parasite enters, exiles a land type, and then deals 2 damage to any player who plays a land of that type for the rest of the game — that's a soft lock on basic land strategies stapled to a punisher trigger. Five mana for a 3/2 is a real cost, but in a Zo-Zu the Punisher shell where every land drop already hurts, the extra pressure is worth the price of admission.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Zo-Zu the Punisher
Zo-Zu the Punisher already taxes every land drop with 2 damage, and Invader Parasite stacks a second trigger on top — opponents are now taking 4 damage per land played if you've named their primary basic type, which closes games fast in a multiplayer pod.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Invader Parasite is a Commander card through and through — the multiplayer environment magnifies both the enter-the-battlefield exile effect and the ongoing damage trigger, since three opponents playing lands of the named type means three sources of 2 damage per land drop. In Legacy and Vintage it's too slow and too fragile for a five-mana creature with no immediate board protection, and those formats don't want to spend that mana on a punisher effect when faster disruption exists. Modern is legal on paper but the same logic applies; dedicated land-hate strategies there run cheaper, more resilient options. Invader Parasite is realistically a 99-card inclusion in red land-punishment builds, not a competitive staple anywhere else.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.22 bulk tier
At $0.22, Invader Parasite is deep bulk — the kind of card you pull from a box rather than buy. The price is unlikely to move significantly given its narrow role, but that narrowness is exactly why it's this cheap, and in the right Commander deck it wildly outperforms its cost.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.