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Mortus Strider

Creature — Skeleton

When this creature dies, return it to its owner's hand.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{1}{U}{B}
Color identity
BU
Rarity
common
Set
Gatecrash
Price
$0.06
EDHREC rank
#21327
Buy on TCGplayer
Mortus Strider card art
Mortus Strider is a 1/3 with horsemanship that returns to your hand when it dies — a built-in recursion loop that specific commanders can exploit as an engine piece. The cost is a three-mana 1/3 that does nothing on its own, so it only earns a slot when Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder or a similar death-trigger commander gives the loop real teeth.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Mortus Strider is unplayable in competitive formats — Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, and Vintage all move too fast for a 1/3 that cycles through the hand without generating card advantage. Pauper is the only 60-card format where it technically fits, but horsemanship is irrelevant there and the body is too fragile to matter. Commander is the one format where Mortus Strider finds a home, specifically in decks that reward repeated death triggers — the hand-return clause turns a single copy into a reusable resource rather than a one-shot.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.06 bulk tier

At $0.06, Mortus Strider is deep bulk — a throwaway pickup at any card table. It won't appreciate; demand is too narrow and supply too wide, so buy it for the combo and expect it to stay at this price floor indefinitely.

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Sources

Mentioned

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