Necroskitter
Creature — Elemental
Wither (This deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters.)
Whenever a creature an opponent controls with a -1/-1 counter on it dies, you may return that card to the battlefield under your control.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Eventide
- Price
- $26.51
- EDHREC rank
- #3072
Necroskitter turns every -1/-1 counter your opponents' creatures receive into a free reanimation — any creature that dies with a counter on it comes back under your control. Auntie Ool, Cursewretch distributes those counters as a core function, making Necroskitter a near-automatic include that converts the commander's curse engine into a steady stream of stolen bodies.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Auntie Ool, Cursewretch
Auntie Ool, Cursewretch is the deck Necroskitter was made for — Auntie Ool places -1/-1 counters as a passive curse mechanic, and Necroskitter converts every countered creature that dies into a permanent theft, turning a stax-adjacent gameplan into a board-building engine.
The Scorpion God
The Scorpion God's entire identity is distributing -1/-1 counters and drawing cards off them, so Necroskitter adds a third axis: anything that dies with a counter now resurrects on your side of the table.
The Reaper, King No More
The Reaper, King No More floods the board with -1/-1 counters at scale, and Necroskitter ensures that the mass-weakening effect doubles as mass reanimation whenever those weakened creatures fall.
Massacre Girl, Known Killer
Massacre Girl, Known Killer triggers on every creature death to shrink the whole board, and Necroskitter intercepts anything that reaches zero toughness through those counters before it hits the graveyard.
Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons
Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons creates Deathtouch tokens whenever a -1/-1 counter is placed, and Necroskitter pairs cleanly by snagging the creatures those counters eventually kill — the two cards share the same trigger economy.
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 |
Commander is where Necroskitter actually matters — the -1/-1 counter synergy density in the format, combined with 100-card singleton pools full of creatures worth stealing, gives it a consistent and powerful home. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but sees no competitive play; the effect is too slow and conditional for formats that end games before counters accumulate. Modern is the same story: the card lacks the raw power or redundancy to slot into any established shell. Necroskitter is a Commander card through and through, and that's where to evaluate it.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
There's no clean budget replacement that replicates Necroskitter's passive reanimation on -1/-1 counters — the effect is unique enough that you're either running it or cutting the line entirely. Grave Betrayal covers similar theft-on-death territory for five mana and works off any death trigger rather than requiring counters, making it a reasonable fallback in decks that can't afford or find Necroskitter, though it costs two more mana and loses the tight counter synergy that makes the original worth building around.
Price Context
Current price
$26.51 premium tier
At $26.51, Necroskitter sits in the premium tier for what is ultimately a niche synergy piece — the price reflects its age and single-printing history more than widespread demand. It holds value inside dedicated -1/-1 counter decks but isn't a card you pick up speculatively for a pile of commanders.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.