Overlord of the Boilerbilges
Enchantment Creature — Avatar Horror
Impending 4—
(If you cast this spell for its impending cost, it enters with four time counters and isn't a creature until the last is removed. At the beginning of your end step, remove a time counter from it.)
Whenever this permanent enters or attacks, it deals 4 damage to any target.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Duskmourn: House of Horror
- Price
- $1.71
- EDHREC rank
- #4687
Overlord of the Boilerbilges lands as a massive token-generating threat that floods the board the moment it enters or attacks, making its presence felt immediately rather than over several turns. The cost is real — it's a high-mana investment — but Wildsear, Scouring Maw and similar commanders recoup that investment fast enough that the rate is genuinely good.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Wildsear, Scouring Maw
Wildsear, Scouring Maw's ability to recur and reward large creatures slots Overlord of the Boilerbilges directly into the engine — the token generation compounds with every attack trigger Wildsear enables.
Tannuk, Steadfast Second
Tannuk, Steadfast Second cares about having large, threatening creatures on board, and Overlord of the Boilerbilges delivers both a massive body and a stream of tokens that keep the battlefield presence high between combats.
The Jolly Balloon Man
The Jolly Balloon Man rewards going wide with tokens, and Overlord of the Boilerbilges is one of the most efficient token producers available in its colors — the two cards are essentially pointing at the same game plan.
Bello, Bard of the Brambles
Bello, Bard of the Brambles buffs Forests and token strategies, so Overlord of the Boilerbilges fits as a payoff that dumps threats into play and keeps Bello's attack triggers meaningful.
Ghen, Arcanum Weaver
Ghen, Arcanum Weaver recycles enchantments, and Overlord of the Boilerbilges as a high-value permanent gives Ghen something worth protecting and recurring when the board gets wiped.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Overlord of the Boilerbilges does its best work — the singleton format slows games down enough that a high-mana token engine actually gets to resolve and matter, and the multiplayer board state rewards flooding the field. In competitive constructed formats like Modern and Pioneer, the mana cost is almost certainly prohibitive; those formats punish slow, expensive creatures without immediate protection or a combo payoff. Standard offers the most realistic non-Commander home if a tokens or big-creature shell is viable in the current format, but even there it's a build-around rather than a generically powerful inclusion. Legacy and Vintage have access to fast mana that could theoretically cheat this into play, but neither format is looking for this effect.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.71 cheap tier
At $1.71, Overlord of the Boilerbilges sits firmly in the budget tier — easy to pick up without any deckbuilding sacrifice. That price likely holds as long as it remains a supporting piece rather than the centerpiece of a breakout competitive strategy.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.