Isu the Abominable
Legendary Snow Creature — Yeti
You may look at the top card of your library any time.
You may play snow lands and cast snow spells from the top of your library.
Whenever another snow permanent you control enters, you may pay 
, 
, or 
. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on Isu.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- GUW
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Jumpstart 2022
- Price
- $5.21
- EDHREC rank
- #16961
Isu the Abominable puts a self-replacing, ever-growing threat into play for five mana — when it dies, it draws a card and comes back bigger next time. The snowball effect is real, and the recursion is free.
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 |
Isu the Abominable is a Commander card through and through — the repeated death-and-return loop is exactly what a 100-card singleton format rewards, where board wipes are common and resilience compounds over a long game. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but competes with threats that close games faster than a slow-growing Yeti ever will. Oathbreaker shares Commander's long-game structure, so the recursion has more room to breathe there than in any 60-card format.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
If the recursion loop is what you're after at a lower price point, Skullbriar, the Walking Grave offers persistent counter accumulation in similar colors without the death trigger. Isu the Abominable's draw-on-death clause is harder to replicate cheaply, but Generous Stray effects or any creature with built-in cantrip on death cover that half of the equation separately.
Price Context
Current price
$5.21 mid tier
At $5.21, Isu the Abominable sits in the mid tier — expensive enough to be a deliberate include, cheap enough that it's not a budget obstacle. It's a low-print-run Commander product card, so the price is stable rather than likely to crater.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.