Karlach, Fury of Avernus
Legendary Creature — Tiefling Barbarian
Whenever you attack, if it's the first combat phase of the turn, untap all attacking creatures. They gain first strike until end of turn. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase.
Choose a Background (You can have a Background as a second commander.)
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #1022
Karlach, Fury of Avernus gives your first combat a free second attack step — every turn, not just once — which is one of the most abusable effects in red at five mana. The catch is that it only triggers on your first combat's attack, so it doesn't stack with itself and rewards attack-step manipulation over raw aggression; commanders like Maarika, Brutal Gladiator that want repeated combat triggers extract the full value.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Maarika, Brutal Gladiator
Maarika, Brutal Gladiator deals damage equal to her power whenever she attacks, and Karlach, Fury of Avernus doubles the number of times that trigger fires each turn — two attacks means two damage bursts and two chances to force blocks.
Wulfgar of Icewind Dale
Wulfgar of Icewind Dale copies attack triggers, and Karlach, Fury of Avernus adds a whole second attack step for those triggers to fire again, effectively quadrupling output on anything that cares about attacking.
Tifa, Martial Artist
Tifa, Martial Artist accumulates counters and bonus effects each time she attacks, so the extra combat step from Karlach, Fury of Avernus translates directly into an additional counter stack and another crack at her limit-break payoffs.
Mishra, Claimed by Gix
Mishra, Claimed by Gix drains opponents whenever you attack, and Karlach, Fury of Avernus ensures that drain fires twice per turn — a meaningful clock in a format where life totals start at 40.
Raphael, Fiendish Savior
Raphael, Fiendish Savior pumps Devils, Demons, and Tieflings each combat, and Karlach, Fury of Avernus adds a second combat to double that anthem trigger on the turn it matters most.
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 |
Commander is where Karlach, Fury of Avernus lives — the effect is too slow and too build-around for Legacy or Vintage, where it's technically legal but will never see a sleeve. In Commander, a repeatable extra combat step at five mana is strong without being oppressive; it demands an answer but doesn't end the game on the spot, which puts it comfortably in the 3–4 bracket range depending on the supporting cast. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander 60-card-adjacent format where it could theoretically appear, though the planeswalker restriction makes the build narrow. Outside those formats, Karlach, Fury of Avernus is simply not legal.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data isn't currently available for Karlach, Fury of Avernus, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the live market number before buying. Given the demand from multiple popular Commander archetypes — combat-step abuse, Gruul aggro, and Baldur's Gate tribal — expect it to carry a meaningful premium over a bulk rare.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Maarika, Brutal Gladiator
- Wulfgar of Icewind Dale
- Tifa, Martial Artist
- Mishra, Claimed by Gix
- Raphael, Fiendish Savior
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.