Mystic Snake
Creature — Snake
Flash
When this creature enters, counter target spell.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- GU
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Commander 2015
- Price
- $0.62
- EDHREC rank
- #5398
Mystic Snake is a Counterspell stapled to a 2/2 body — you get the denial and a creature on the board for four mana, which is the whole deal. Commanders like Rashmi, Eternities Crafter that want creatures on the stack and engines like Displacer Kitten that can blink it repeatedly push Mystic Snake from solid role-player to repeatable counterspell factory.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter triggers on your first spell each turn, and casting Mystic Snake on an opponent's turn counts — you counter their spell and potentially cascade into a free card off Rashmi's ability on your own turn as well. The creature type matters less here than the instant-speed entry point.
Helga, Skittish Seer
Helga, Skittish Seer cares about creatures entering the battlefield and generating value from those triggers, so Mystic Snake doubling as a counterspell means every piece of interaction also feeds Helga's engine. You're rarely just countering a spell — you're also advancing your board state.
Surrak Dragonclaw
Surrak Dragonclaw gives your creatures flash and can't-be-countered protection, but the real pull is that Mystic Snake is itself a creature that counters things — exactly the kind of threat-dense, interactive body a Temur beatdown deck wants. Flash creatures that answer the table while building your own board are the whole game plan.
Roon of the Hidden Realm
Roon of the Hidden Realm blinks your own creatures at end of turn, and blinking Mystic Snake resets the enters-the-battlefield trigger — netting a fresh counter each rotation. It's one of the cleanest blink targets in the format: every blink is a free Counterspell.
Chulane, Teller of Tales
Chulane, Teller of Tales draws a card and puts a land into play whenever you cast a creature, so Mystic Snake at instant speed means you're countering a spell and drawing a card on your opponent's turn. That tempo swing — denial plus card advantage plus a body — is exactly why Chulane decks include it at nearly 20% inclusion.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Mystic Snake is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but Commander is where it actually sees play. In Legacy and Vintage, four mana for a counterspell is disqualifyingly slow next to Force of Will and Mana Drain, so it doesn't show up in competitive lists. Modern has enough efficient interaction that a 4-mana creature-counter doesn't make the cut either. Commander is the format that rewards the creature typing — blink synergies, ETB engines, and flash-enablers all turn Mystic Snake from a clunky counterspell into a repeatable threat.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Displacer KittenGuileMystic Snake
Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite storm count
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.62 bulk tier
At $0.62, Mystic Snake is firmly bulk despite being one of the more synergistic counterspells in Commander. The price reflects wide reprint availability rather than low demand — if you need one, pick it up without hesitation.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.