Moonbow Illusionist
Creature — Moonfolk Wizard
Flying
, Return a land you control to its owner's hand: Target land becomes the basic land type of your choice until end of turn.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Saviors of Kamigawa
- Price
- $0.15
- EDHREC rank
- #20580
Moonbow Illusionist turns any land into an Island for the turn, which is exactly as narrow as it sounds — the payoff only matters if you're specifically enabling Islandwalk or blue-land-matters effects. The cost of a tapped 2/2 for three mana is already bad, and the activated ability asking you to pay mana repeatedly makes it worse.
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, Moonbow Illusionist occupies a niche role in Islandwalk decks — primarily under commanders like Sygg, River Cutthroat or any Merfolk tribal build that needs to push damage through. Outside of that lane it has no business being in a list. In Pauper it's a common, but there's no competitive shell that wants a three-mana 2/2 with a conditional tap ability. Legacy and Vintage are non-starters — the effect is too weak and too slow for either format. Moonbow Illusionist is a narrow Commander role-player at best, and only in decks explicitly built around Islandwalk.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.15 bulk tier
At $0.15, Moonbow Illusionist is deep bulk — it costs less than a sleeve. Bulk commons and uncommons with narrow applications don't appreciate, so don't hold copies expecting movement.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.