Monstrous Carabid
Creature — Insect
This creature attacks each combat if able.
Cycling 
(, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BR
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Alara Reborn
- Price
- $0.25
- EDHREC rank
- #22810
Monstrous Carabid is a 4/4 with cycling for one mana — the body is irrelevant, the cycling cost is the entire point. Run it as a cheap cantrip in decks that want cards in the graveyard or need to trigger cycling synergies, not as a creature.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Monstrous Carabid earns its slot only in dedicated cycling decks — Anikthea, Hand of Erebos or Brallin, Skyshark Rider shells where each cycling trigger generates value. Pauper is where it sees the most concentrated use, slotting into cycling-storm and Drannith Stinger lists that chain cheap cyclers to close games. Legacy and Vintage have access to the same cycling staples but operate at a speed where a 4/4 for five with no enters-the-battlefield effect is dead weight; the one-mana cycle still technically wheels through the deck, but better cyclers exist. Outside of a dedicated cycling shell in any format, Monstrous Carabid is just an overcosted beater with a built-in escape hatch.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.25 bulk tier
At $0.25, Monstrous Carabid sits firmly in bulk territory and will stay there — it's a common with a narrow role and no scarcity propping it up. Grab a copy if you need it; there's no reason to think twice at this price.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.