Ironpaw Aspirant
Creature — Cat Warrior
When this creature enters, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
- Price
- $0.19
- EDHREC rank
- #15034
Ironpaw Aspirant enters as a 3/3 and immediately hands a +1/+1 counter to another Cat you control — that's a two-body, two-stat investment on a single card. In Arahbo, the First Fang builds, the counter synergy compounds fast enough that cutting this card is a mistake.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Arahbo, the First Fang
Arahbo, the First Fang cares about stacking +1/+1 counters on Cats, and Ironpaw Aspirant delivers one the moment it lands — no hoops, no conditions, just an immediate counter on your best attacker.
Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar
Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar rewards you for putting counters on creatures during combat, and Ironpaw Aspirant's enter-the-battlefield trigger seeds a counter onto any Cat before the turn even starts — setting up Kutzil's payoffs a step ahead.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Ironpaw Aspirant is a role-player, not a headliner — it belongs in Cat tribal or +1/+1 counter synergy builds and nowhere else. In competitive 60-card formats like Modern and Pioneer, a 3/3 for three that distributes a single counter is well below rate when measured against dedicated counter engines or tribal payoffs. Pauper is where it might carve out a niche if a Cat-counter shell ever materializes at common, but no such shell exists at the moment. Standard is the most realistic proving ground outside Commander, purely because the card pool is shallow enough that enters-the-battlefield value on a three-drop can matter.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.19 bulk tier
At $0.19, Ironpaw Aspirant is deep bulk — no surprise for a tribal two-drop with a narrow home. Bulk commons and uncommons with single-format applications rarely climb without a breakout deck, so pick up copies for what you need now and don't expect the price to move.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.