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Necrotic Ooze

Creature — Ooze

As long as this creature is on the battlefield, it has all activated abilities of all creature cards in all graveyards.

CMC
4
Mana cost
{2}{B}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
rare
Set
Secret Lair Drop
Price
$11.15
EDHREC rank
#4698
Buy on TCGplayer
Necrotic Ooze card art
Necrotic Ooze turns every graveyard into an activated ability toolbox — the moment it hits the battlefield, it inherits every ability from every creature in every graveyard, which means one card can assemble a kill out of pieces that are already dead. Commanders like K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth and Asmodeus the Archfiend push it from role-player to centerpiece, because their activated abilities are exactly the kind of fuel that makes the Ooze go infinite.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth

K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth

49.7% of decks · synergy 0.45

K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth runs Necrotic Ooze because K'rrik's life-to-mana ability is worth copying on a standalone body — and once K'rrik is in the graveyard, the Ooze can use that ability to accelerate through the rest of the combo pieces still in the deck.

02
Trazyn the Infinite

Trazyn the Infinite

41.8% of decks · synergy 0.38

Trazyn the Infinite imprints artifacts from the graveyard, and Necrotic Ooze slots into that gameplan as a creature that independently mirrors whatever activated abilities have already ended up in the bin — doubling down on the graveyard-as-resource theme Trazyn demands.

03
The Mimeoplasm

The Mimeoplasm

35.3% of decks · synergy 0.34

The Mimeoplasm decks are built around loading creatures into the graveyard, which means Necrotic Ooze arrives to a buffet — it passively inherits every activated ability the deck has milled or sacrificed away, often assembling win conditions without any additional setup.

04
Old Stickfingers

Old Stickfingers

23.1% of decks · synergy 0.22

Old Stickfingers mills creatures directly into the graveyard on command, which means Necrotic Ooze can land on turn four with a full suite of stolen abilities already waiting for it.

05
Mimeoplasm, Revered One

Mimeoplasm, Revered One

23.7% of decks · synergy 0.22

Mimeoplasm, Revered One operates in the same Sultai graveyard lane as its predecessor, and Necrotic Ooze fills the same role — a creature that converts the pile of discarded bodies into a live combo threat the moment it resolves.

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 not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Necrotic Ooze is most dangerous, because four-player games naturally fill multiple graveyards and combo-oriented builds can guarantee the right creatures end up in the bin through self-mill and sacrifice outlets. In Legacy and Vintage, the Ooze sees occasional fringe play in combo shells that can set up Phyrexian Devourer and Triskelion in the graveyard, but the format speed means it rarely gets a turn to act. Modern has the tools to enable it — graveyard payoffs, fast self-mill — but the Ooze competes with faster, more resilient threats and sits near the edge of viability rather than inside a top-tier strategy. Oathbreaker allows it legally and follows the same Commander logic at a compressed scale.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

There is no true budget replacement for Necrotic Ooze because its ability to copy every activated ability from every graveyard simultaneously is unique — cheaper creatures like Torrent Elemental or Mesmeric Fiend copy individual effects but not the full board. If the goal is simply "graveyard creature that assembles a combo," Buried Alive plus a reanimation spell often costs less and is more consistent, but that is a different card and a different gameplan, not a substitute.

Price Context

Current price

$11.15 mid tier

At $11.15, Necrotic Ooze sits in the mid tier — expensive enough to feel like a deliberate include, cheap enough that the decks built around it routinely pay it without hesitation. The price reflects genuine demand across multiple combo archetypes, and as long as Necrotic Ooze remains the only card that does what it does, there is no reason to expect the floor to move significantly downward.

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Sources

Mentioned

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