Niveous Wisps
Instant
Target creature becomes white until end of turn. Tap that creature.
Draw a card.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Shadowmoor
- Price
- $0.42
- EDHREC rank
- #12224
Niveous Wisps taps a creature and makes it white until end of turn — relevant for protection, combo enabling, and color-hosing — all on a one-mana instant that Feather, the Redeemed bounces back to your hand every turn. The cost is that it does almost nothing in isolation; outside of specific engines like Lurking Roper or recursive Feather loops, it's a blank.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Feather, the Redeemed
Feather, the Redeemed returns Niveous Wisps to hand at end of turn, turning a one-mana tap effect into a repeatable engine that taps down blockers, enables untap triggers, or protects your creatures from white-targeting effects every single turn.
Hylda of the Icy Crown
Hylda of the Icy Crown triggers off tapping opponents' creatures, so Niveous Wisps becomes a one-mana instant-speed activation — generate a token, draw a card, or put counters — that also happens to neutralize a blocker or attacker in the same motion.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Niveous Wisps is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but it sees real play in exactly one of those: Commander, specifically in tap-themed or spell-recursion decks. In Pauper it's a common and technically viable, but the tap effect is too low-impact for a format defined by efficient threats and interaction. In Legacy and Vintage the card is strictly a curiosity — no competitive shell wants a one-mana tap with no lasting board effect. Commander is where Niveous Wisps earns its slot, and only in the right commanders; outside of Feather, the Redeemed loops or Hylda of the Icy Crown triggers, it doesn't make the cut there either.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Lurking RoperResplendent MentorNiveous Wisps
Infinite lifegain; Infinite lifegain triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.42 bulk tier
At $0.42, Niveous Wisps sits firmly in bulk territory — buy it without thinking if you're building the right deck, skip it without thinking if you're not. It's a niche card with a narrow audience, so the price is unlikely to move much in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.