Nether Shadow
Creature — Spirit
Haste
At the beginning of your upkeep, if this card is in your graveyard with three or more creature cards above it, you may put this card onto the battlefield.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border
- Price
- $15.08
- EDHREC rank
- #21204
Nether Shadow is a self-recurring threat that comes back for free at the start of your upkeep — as long as three creatures are above it in your graveyard, it just keeps showing up. At one black mana for a 1/1 with haste, the rate is unimpressive, but the recursion loop is the entire point.
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, Nether Shadow earns its slot in graveyard-centric decks that fill the bin fast — Hogaak, Jarad, or any self-mill strategy can trigger its recursion condition repeatedly, turning it into a reliable sacrifice outlet target or consistent attacker. Legacy is where Nether Shadow has real historical teeth: dredge and reanimator shells can satisfy the three-creatures-above-it condition early and reliably, making it a free recurring body that demands an answer. Vintage permits it but the power ceiling there is so high that a 1/1 loop rarely matters. It's not legal in Modern, Pioneer, or Standard, and Pauper locks it out on rarity, so the card lives almost entirely in the Legacy and Commander contexts where graveyards are already the engine.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Nether Shadow's core function — a cheap creature that recurs itself from the graveyard without paying mana — is hard to replicate exactly on a budget, but Bloodsoaked Champion and Dread Wanderer both return from the graveyard for one black mana and cost under $1 combined. They require active conditions (attacking, empty hand) rather than a passive upkeep trigger, which is a real trade-off, but in aggressive or aristocrats builds either one fills a similar role at a fraction of the price.
Price Context
Current price
$15.08 mid tier
At $15.08, Nether Shadow sits in mid-tier pricing driven almost entirely by casual and Legacy collector demand for an old card with a narrow but devoted audience. It's not a card whose price is likely to collapse — supply is limited and it doesn't have a modern reprint — but at that price it's a luxury inclusion in Commander rather than a staple.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.