Needle Specter
Creature — Specter
Flying
Wither (This deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters.)
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, that player discards that many cards.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Eventide
- Price
- $1.25
- EDHREC rank
- #17168
Needle Specter forces targeted discard equal to its power every time it connects — and at 2/1 with wither and flying, connecting is easier than it looks. The three-mana cost is fair for what is effectively a recursive hand-destruction engine on a body.
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 |
In Commander, Needle Specter occupies a specific niche: evasive, wither-enabled hand disruption that scales with power boosts, making it a natural fit in dedicated discard or -1/-1 counter shells. Legacy and Vintage are legal but have no appetite for a three-mana 2/1 that requires combat to function — those formats end games before it matters. Modern is similarly too fast; structured hand disruption there comes from Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek at one mana, not from creatures that need to swing. Needle Specter's real home is Commander, where multiplayer politics and longer game states give it room to connect multiple times and compound advantage.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.25 cheap tier
At $1.25, Needle Specter sits in comfortable bulk-rare territory — cheap enough to slot in without second-guessing, priced exactly where its narrow application warrants. It won't climb unless a breakout commander pushes dedicated discard into the spotlight, but it won't crater further either.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.