Mavinda, Students' Advocate
Legendary Creature — Bird Advisor
Flying
: You may cast target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard this turn. If that spell doesn't target a creature you control, it costs 
more to cast this way. If that spell would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead. Activate only once each turn. (You still pay the spell's costs. Timing rules for the spell still apply.)
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Strixhaven: School of Mages
- Price
- $1.23
- EDHREC rank
- #10053
Mavinda, Students' Advocate turns any instant or sorcery targeting one of your creatures into a free second cast — the eight-mana surcharge evaporates the moment you're looping spells rather than casting them once. She's a cheaper, more aggressive version of what Feather, the Redeemed does, and in the right shell she's an engine piece, not a support card.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Feather, the Redeemed
Feather, the Redeemed already returns targeting instants and sorceries to hand at end of turn, so pairing her with Mavinda, Students' Advocate means each spell effectively casts twice per turn cycle — once for free off Mavinda's trigger, once recurred by Feather — turning even cantrips into a repeating storm of value.
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 Mavinda, Students' Advocate earns her slot, specifically in Feather, the Redeemed builds and any Boros or Orzhov deck that chains targeting spells for value or damage. The free-recast trigger snowballs hard in a format where you have multiple attack steps and opponents to redirect the second copy toward. In Modern and Pioneer she's fringe at best — eight mana for the recast is prohibitive in 60-card formats where one-for-one efficiency governs, and dedicated spellslinger payoffs have cheaper competition. Legacy and Vintage could theoretically abuse the trigger but have no incentive to run a three-mana 2/3 with a conditional ability when broken alternatives exist.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.23 cheap tier
At $1.23, Mavinda, Students' Advocate sits firmly in budget territory — cheap enough to pick up without a second thought for any Feather build. The price reflects real but niche demand; it won't spike without a reprint pushing new interest, and it's unlikely to crater further given its locked-in home in Feather lists.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.