Old Man of the Sea
Creature — Djinn
You may choose not to untap this creature during your untap step.
: Gain control of target creature with power less than or equal to this creature's power for as long as this creature remains tapped and that creature's power remains less than or equal to this creature's power.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Arabian Nights
- Price
- $189.50
- EDHREC rank
- #25518
Old Man of the Sea offers repeatable theft of any creature with power less than or equal to its own — a standing threat that steals the best thing on the table as long as you can keep it pumped. The cost is that it's a 2/3 for three mana that dies to any removal spell and loses whatever it borrowed the moment it does.
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, Old Man of the Sea earns its slot in blue decks that can reliably buff power — Merfolk lords, +1/+1 counter engines, and anything running Charisma effects turn it into a recurring theft engine that scales with the game state. Legacy and Vintage both technically allow it, but neither format has any reason to run a slow, fragile creature-theft piece when faster and more resilient options exist. Old Man of the Sea is purely a Commander card in practice, and even there it needs the right shell to justify the ask.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Old Man of the Sea's closest budget replacement is Vedalken Shackles, which costs a fraction of the price, doesn't need power buffs to steal large creatures, and survives at instant speed — it does the job more reliably in most blue Commander shells. If you want the creature type for Merfolk synergy specifically, Rootwater Matriarch offers a narrower version of the effect that's nearly free and untaps for repeated activations.
Price Context
Current price
$189.50 premium tier
At $189.50, Old Man of the Sea sits firmly in the premium tier, driven almost entirely by Reserved List scarcity rather than competitive demand. It holds price because supply can't increase, not because it's the best theft effect available — buy it for the nostalgia or the Merfolk tribal flavor, not because nothing else does the job.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.