Kumano's Pupils
Creature — Human Shaman
If a creature dealt damage by this creature this turn would die, exile it instead.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Champions of Kamigawa
- Price
- $0.16
- EDHREC rank
- #30914
Kumano's Pupils is a 4/4 for five mana that exiles creatures damaged by it — a relevant death-replacement effect stapled onto an underwhelming body. The rate is too slow for competitive play, but the exile clause gives it a narrow home where graveyard hate doubles as a win condition.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Kumano's Pupils sees essentially no play in Legacy, Modern, or Vintage — five mana for a 4/4 with a conditional exile trigger doesn't clear the bar in formats where speed and efficiency dominate. Commander is where it has any argument at all: the exile-on-damage clause matters against recursive threats and graveyard-centric strategies, and five mana is a reasonable ask in a 40-life format. Even there, dedicated graveyard hate like Soul-Guide Lantern or Unlicensed Hearse does the same job without asking you to connect with combat damage first.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.16 bulk tier
At $0.16, Kumano's Pupils sits firmly in bulk territory and is unlikely to move in either direction. Casual players picking it up for a theme or budget graveyard-hate slot lose essentially nothing at this price.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.