Phantasmal Bear
Creature — Bear Illusion
When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Masters 25
- Price
- $0.12
- EDHREC rank
- #21333
Phantasmal Bear puts a 2/2 on the board for one blue mana — that rate is real, and the self-sacrifice drawback barely matters in dedicated Illusion builds where Minn, Wily Illusionist turns every targeted Bear into a free Aura Thief or Narcolepsy token. Outside that shell, the glass-cannon clause is too punishing to justify.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Minn, Wily Illusionist
Minn, Wily Illusionist actively rewards you for running Phantasmal Bear — when an opponent targets it, Minn's triggered ability puts a blue Illusion token from your library directly onto the battlefield, converting what looks like a fatal removal spell into a free tutor-and-deploy.
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 |
In Commander, Phantasmal Bear is a role-player in exactly one context: Minn, Wily Illusionist decks that want cheap Illusions to feed the engine. In Pauper it has seen fringe play in tempo shells that need the most aggressive common blue creature available at one mana, though the fragility caps its ceiling. Legacy and Vintage have no interest — the formats move too fast and interact too freely for a creature that dies to any stray targeting effect. Phantasmal Bear is legal in Modern but irrelevant there; no competitive archetype wants a conditional 2/2 when better options exist at the same cost.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.12 bulk tier
At $0.12, Phantasmal Bear is deep bulk — you'll find it in a common box before you'd bother ordering it. Bulk rares fluctuate; bulk commons like this one don't, and there's no reason to expect anything other than flat value here.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.