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Ophiomancer

Creature — Human Shaman

At the beginning of each upkeep, if you control no Snakes, create a 1/1 black Snake creature token with deathtouch.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{2}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
rare
Set
Secrets of Strixhaven Commander
Price
$0.73
EDHREC rank
#708
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Ophiomancer card art
Ophiomancer guarantees a 1/1 deathtouch Snake at the start of each of your turns, which means you always have a body ready to sacrifice — and that's the whole game with Razaketh, the Foulblooded, who turns each Snake into a free tutor. Dina, Essence Brewer squeezes even more out of it by converting those sacrifices into drain triggers. Three mana for a card that continuously refills your sacrifice fodder is an easy include in any black value or combo shell.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Dina, Essence Brewer

Dina, Essence Brewer

72.0% of decks · synergy 0.66

Dina, Essence Brewer drains an opponent every time you gain life from a sacrifice, and Ophiomancer guarantees a fresh body to feed that loop each turn — the two cards form a self-sustaining value engine that requires almost no other setup.

02

Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER

74.3% of decks · synergy 0.57

Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER rewards you for having creatures in play and putting pressure on opponents, and Ophiomancer supplies a guaranteed deathtouch blocker every turn that dissuades attacks while also serving as recurring sacrifice material for any triggered payoffs.

03
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

73.2% of decks · synergy 0.56

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician needs a steady stream of creatures to sacrifice for his draw-and-proliferate ability, and Ophiomancer fills that role better than almost anything else — one Snake per turn, every turn, for the rest of the game.

04
Neriv, Crackling Vanguard

Neriv, Crackling Vanguard

57.6% of decks · synergy 0.53

Neriv, Crackling Vanguard cares about creatures with different powers entering and leaving the battlefield, and Ophiomancer's Snakes slot in as cheap, consistent sacrifice fuel that keeps Neriv's triggered abilities firing without requiring extra investment.

05
Silverquill, the Disputant

Silverquill, the Disputant

60.5% of decks · synergy 0.52

Silverquill, the Disputant benefits from a steady supply of small creatures to protect it or to trade away for value, and Ophiomancer provides exactly that — a deathtouch body each upkeep that discourages blocks and doubles as expendable fodder.

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 where Ophiomancer lives — in a multiplayer game, the Snake trigger fires multiple times per round (once on each player's turn), meaning you can generate three or more bodies in a single circuit of the table. That volume of free sacrifice fodder is almost impossible to replicate at the same mana cost, which is why Ophiomancer slots into every black token, aristocrats, or reanimator build that can spare the three-mana slot. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but sees essentially no play; those formats move too fast for a three-mana 1/1 that doesn't immediately affect the board. Modern is the same story — the card isn't powerful enough on rate to compete with what the format demands at three mana. Ophiomancer is a Commander card through and through, and it's one of the stronger ones.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.73 bulk tier

At $0.73, Ophiomancer is bulk-tier pricing for a card that does genuine work in multiple high-synergy Commander archetypes — that gap between price and playability makes it one of the better pickups at this price point. The rate is unlikely to spike dramatically, but it's the kind of card that quietly disappears from store shelves once a popular precon or new commander puts it back in the spotlight.

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Sources

Mentioned

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