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Mortician Beetle

Creature — Insect

Whenever a player sacrifices a creature, you may put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.

CMC
1
Mana cost
{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
common
Set
Modern Masters 2017
Price
$2.28
EDHREC rank
#9609
Buy on TCGplayer
Mortician Beetle card art
Mortician Beetle grows every time a creature hits the graveyard from anywhere — your sacrifices, your opponents' removal, combat damage across the table — and it does all of that for a single black mana. Pair it with Animation Module and you're converting every +1/+1 counter into a Servo while the Beetle keeps climbing; slot it under Fumulus, the Infestation and the insect subtype alone earns its keep before the counters even matter.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Fumulus, the Infestation

Fumulus, the Infestation

60.9% of decks · synergy 0.60

Fumulus, the Infestation generates consistent creature death through its sacrifice and token engines, which means Mortician Beetle is almost never idle — it's growing on your turn and your opponents'.

02
Grist, the Hunger Tide

Grist, the Hunger Tide

48.6% of decks · synergy 0.47

Grist, the Hunger Tide mills insects into the graveyard as part of its normal operation, and every insect that dies to Grist's ability is a free +1/+1 counter on Mortician Beetle — the Beetle turns incidental self-mill into a legitimate threat.

03
Zask, Skittering Swarmlord

Zask, Skittering Swarmlord

34.4% of decks · synergy 0.33

Zask, Skittering Swarmlord rewards you for having insects die and hit the yard, and Mortician Beetle slots directly into that loop — it grows off the same deaths that trigger Zask while also being a legal target for Zask's graveyard recursion.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Mortician Beetle genuinely earns a slot — four players means four graveyards churning, and the Beetle scales off every single one of them. In Pauper it's legal and cheap enough to jam, but dedicated sacrifice shells there have more efficient payoffs and the Beetle's ceiling is lower with only one opponent. Legacy and Vintage both technically support it, but a one-mana 1/1 that needs setup to matter isn't competing for spots in those formats. Commander is the home; everywhere else is a footnote.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

46 decks
Tayam, Luminous EnigmaMortician BeetleAshnod's AltarStrangleroot Geist

Tayam, Luminous EnigmaMortician BeetleAshnod's AltarStrangleroot Geist

Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature; Infinite colorless mana; Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite self-mill; Put a selection of permanant cards from your library and graveyard onto the battlefield

View on Commander Spellbook ↗
45 decks
Tayam, Luminous EnigmaMortician BeetleAshnod's AltarKitchen Finks

Tayam, Luminous EnigmaMortician BeetleAshnod's AltarKitchen Finks

Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature; Infinite colorless mana; Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite lifegain; Infinite lifegain triggers; Infinite LTB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite self-mill; Put a selection of permanant cards from your library and graveyard onto the battlefield

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$2.28 cheap tier

At $2.28, Mortician Beetle sits at the top of the cheap tier — fair for a niche card with a real ceiling in the right shell. It's not a card that spikes or craters dramatically, so buy it when you need it and don't expect the price to move much either direction.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

← All cards

Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.