Khabál Ghoul
Creature — Zombie
At the beginning of each end step, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature for each creature that died this turn.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Arabian Nights
- Price
- $113.73
- EDHREC rank
- #26319
Khabál Ghoul snowballs into a lethal threat in any game where creatures are dying — it gets a +1/+1 counter for each creature that dies each turn, yours or your opponents'. The floor is a 1/1 for three mana; the ceiling in a multiplayer pod with mass removal is a creature that grows by double digits in a single turn.
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 |
In Commander, Khabál Ghoul is at its best: four players means four times the creature deaths, and any board wipe turns it into an enormous threat overnight. The limitation is its speed — three mana for a 1/1 that doesn't protect itself is a liability in the early game, and it needs to survive a full turn cycle before it pays off. In Legacy and Vintage it's a legal curiosity, but creature counts are lower and the pace is too fast for a counter-accumulation plan to matter. Oathbreaker parallels Commander closely enough that the same evaluation applies.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Nightmare Shepherd both reward creature death in black at a fraction of the price and do more work individually, but neither replicates the raw stat growth Khabál Ghoul offers. If the goal is simply a creature that scales off death triggers, Mortician Beetle costs under a dollar and grows on each sacrifice — narrower than Khabál Ghoul since it only counts your own creatures, but it does the job in aristocrats shells for almost nothing.
Price Context
Current price
$113.73 premium tier
At $113.73, Khabál Ghoul is a premium collectible — the price reflects its age and scarcity as an Arabian Nights rare, not its power level. The effect is not worth that number in a vacuum; you're paying for the cardboard, not the ability.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.