Nakaya Shade
Creature — Shade
: This creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn unless any player pays 
.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Prophecy
- Price
- $0.17
- EDHREC rank
- #28784
Nakaya Shade is an evasive, infinitely scalable threat — pump all your black mana into it at instant speed and it becomes an unblockable finisher that kills on contact. The cost is total mana commitment: every black mana you sink into it is mana you're not spending on anything else.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Nakaya Shade occupies a narrow lane — mono-black or heavily black decks that can reliably flood the board with mana and want a repeatable, hard-to-block damage outlet. Legacy and Vintage both have access to it, but neither format has ever found room for a two-mana creature that does nothing without additional investment when faster, more explosive options exist. Nakaya Shade is essentially a Commander-only proposition, and even there it wants a specific shell: big-mana black strategies like Crypt Ghast or Bubbling Muck decks where dumping ten mana into a single unblockable swing is a realistic line.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.17 bulk tier
At $0.17, Nakaya Shade is deep bulk — grab a copy whenever you need one and don't think twice about the price. Demand is narrow enough that it's unlikely to move unless a breakout Commander build puts it in the spotlight.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.