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Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho

Legendary Artifact — Equipment

Equipped creature gets +3/+1.
Whenever equipped creature dies, return that card to the battlefield under your control if it's a Samurai card.
When Oathkeeper is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, exile equipped creature.
Equip {2}

CMC
3
Mana cost
{3}
Color identity
C
Rarity
rare
Set
Champions of Kamigawa
Price
$19.68
EDHREC rank
#10515
Buy on TCGplayer
Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho card art
Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho turns Samurai deaths into a self-contained recursion loop — equip it to any Samurai, and when that creature dies, it returns to the battlefield already wearing the weapon. The cost is real: three mana to cast, two to equip, and the effect is locked to Samurai creatures, which keeps it narrow. Pair it with Ashnod's Altar or Tetsuo, Imperial Champion and that narrowness stops mattering entirely.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Tetsuo, Imperial Champion

Tetsuo, Imperial Champion

35.9% of decks · synergy 0.36

Tetsuo, Imperial Champion is the flagship home for Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho — Tetsuo is himself a Samurai, so the equipment returns to him on death, and his built-in ability to destroy equipped creatures closes games as a repeatable threat. The recursion loop makes Tetsuo effectively unkillable as long as the Daisho survives.

02
Raiyuu, Storm's Edge

Raiyuu, Storm's Edge

32.3% of decks · synergy 0.32

Raiyuu, Storm's Edge triggers on solo attackers, and Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho guarantees the equipped Samurai comes back after a trade, letting you keep attacking in subsequent combats without losing your threat. The equipment's recursion directly sustains the aggressive, one-at-a-time attack pattern Raiyuu rewards.

03
Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima

Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima

23.1% of decks · synergy 0.22

Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima floods the board with Samurai tokens, giving Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho a deep pool of eligible bodies to bounce between on death. The sheer redundancy of targets means the recursion trigger fires often and the equipment is rarely sitting idle.

04
Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms

Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms

20.8% of decks · synergy 0.21

Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms cares about equipping and attacking, and Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho auto-reattaches to a returning Samurai, keeping the equip triggers firing even through removal. That automatic reattachment removes a key friction point for equipment-heavy Gilgamesh builds.

05
Toshiro Umezawa

Toshiro Umezawa

20.8% of decks · synergy 0.21

Toshiro Umezawa is a Samurai who wants to survive combat long enough to recast instants from graveyards, and Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho ensures he comes back every time he dies. The recursion gives Toshiro the resilience his ability demands without spending additional card slots on protection.

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 the clear home for Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho — the recursion loop is built for multiplayer games where creatures die repeatedly and the five-mana setup cost amortizes over a long game. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but irrelevant; the equip cost, creature restriction, and lack of raw power keep it off any competitive radar in those formats. Oathbreaker is the one fringe case where a Samurai-themed build might find it useful, though the faster pace puts more pressure on that five-mana entry point. Pioneer, Standard, and Pauper don't apply.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

No single card replicates Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho's exact loop, but Whispersilk Cloak offers protection and evasion on an equipment for under $1 if your goal is keeping a key creature alive rather than recurring it. If the recursion itself is the draw, Nim Deathmantle does the same job across any creature type for two mana more on the trigger — it's broader but costs around $3 and demands a sacrifice outlet to fire, which Oathkeeper doesn't.

Price Context

Current price

$19.68 mid tier

At $19.68, Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho sits in the mid tier — expensive enough to feel like a deliberate include, not a bulk pickup. The price is driven almost entirely by Commander demand from Samurai-tribal builds, and as long as new Samurai commanders keep releasing, that floor holds.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

← All cards

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