Lavabrink Venturer
Creature — Human Soldier
As this creature enters, choose odd or even. (Zero is even.)
This creature has protection from each mana value of the chosen quality.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths
- Price
- $0.22
- EDHREC rank
- #24382
Lavabrink Venturer blankets itself in protection from all even-mana-value spells or all odd-mana-value spells — your choice at cast time — making it effectively unkillable by half the removal in any given game. The catch is that you're committing blind, so if your opponent's interaction happens to land on the wrong parity, Venturer dies to the first targeted spell they point at it.
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 |
In Commander, Lavabrink Venturer is a niche inclusion: it survives selectively, but a four-player table guarantees someone has removal on the right mana value to answer it, and a 3/3 for three that doesn't impact the board immediately rarely justifies a slot. In competitive Legacy and Vintage the card has never found a home — protection from half the format is cute, but those formats demand more than a resilient body with no ETB and no text beyond self-preservation. Modern and Pioneer have similarly ignored it; white aggressive strategies want either a threat that closes games or protection that's unconditional, and Venturer offers neither. Oathbreaker narrows the field enough that the parity choice matters more, but even there, the card is a role-player at best.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.22 bulk tier
At $0.22, Lavabrink Venturer is firmly bulk — exactly what you'd expect for a card that sees minimal competitive play and only fringe Commander interest. That price floor is unlikely to move meaningfully unless a dedicated combo or synergy shell emerges around the parity mechanic, which hasn't materialized.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.