Kiora, Master of the Depths
Legendary Planeswalker — Kiora
+1: Untap up to one target creature and up to one target land.
−2: Reveal the top four cards of your library. You may put a creature card and/or a land card from among them into your hand. Put the rest into your graveyard.
−8: You get an emblem with "Whenever a creature you control enters, you may have it fight target creature." Then create three 8/8 blue Octopus creature tokens.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- GU
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Battle for Zendikar
- Price
- $2.82
- EDHREC rank
- #8717
Kiora, Master of the Depths untaps a creature and a land every turn for free, draws cards when your creatures fight, and threatens an emblem that floods the board with 8/8s — all for four mana. She does more work per turn than most five-drops, and unlike Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep, she earns her slot without needing a sea-creature tribal shell to function.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep
Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep is the obvious home — Kiora, Master of the Depths untaps mana to accelerate Sovereign's triggered abilities and keeps loyalty counters ticking while the deck builds toward its sea-creature payoffs.
Xavier Sal, Infested Captain
Xavier Sal, Infested Captain leans on Kiora, Master of the Depths for the untap effect: tapping down infected creatures for value and then refreshing them for another attack or block is exactly the kind of incremental advantage the deck wants.
Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle
Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle needs to shed slumber counters fast, and Kiora, Master of the Depths untapping the commander directly accelerates that count — getting Arixmethes to land status a full turn sooner is a real edge.
Alaundo the Seer
Alaundo the Seer chains suspended spells by tapping and untapping creatures, and Kiora, Master of the Depths fits cleanly into that loop by refreshing key pieces between phases without spending extra mana.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Kiora, Master of the Depths earns most of her reputation — the untap ability scales with expensive mana dorks and large utility creatures, and multiplayer games give her enough time to threaten the emblem. In Legacy and Vintage she's legal but irrelevant; four mana for a planeswalker with no immediate board protection doesn't survive in those formats. Pioneer and Modern are theoretically legal but offer no realistic home — the format speed and the card's passive game plan don't align. Oathbreaker is the one fringe exception: as a signature spell pairing or in a creature-heavy shell, the untap effect can generate real tempo at a smaller table.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$2.82 cheap tier
At $2.82, Kiora, Master of the Depths sits in the budget-rare tier — cheap enough to slot in without a second thought, and the price reflects modest competitive demand rather than a ceiling. It's unlikely to spike without a new tribal printing that rewards Merfolk or sea-creature synergies, so buy in whenever you need her without worrying about timing.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep
- Xavier Sal, Infested Captain
- Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle
- Alaundo the Seer
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.