Phantasmal Fiend
Creature — Illusion
: This creature gets +1/-1 until end of turn.
: Switch this creature's power and toughness until end of turn.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Coldsnap Theme Decks
- Price
- $0.15
- EDHREC rank
- #30939
Phantasmal Fiend is a 4-mana 2/3 that pumps itself once per turn — underwhelming stats for a four-drop that does nothing the turn it enters. Unless you're in a highly specific self-mill or reanimator shell that values it as a cheap recursive threat, cut it.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Phantasmal Fiend is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but sees meaningful play in none of them at a competitive level. In Pauper, where commons live or die by efficiency, a 2/3 for four with a slow pump clause doesn't clear the bar set by more impactful blue threats. In Legacy and Vintage, the power ceiling is too high for Phantasmal Fiend to register. Commander is its most plausible home — specifically in a self-pump or threshold-style blue deck — but even there, the body is too small and the ability too slow to earn a slot in most 99s.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.15 bulk tier
At $0.15, Phantasmal Fiend is deep bulk — you're not paying for power, you're paying for cardboard. The price won't move; there's no sleeper demand or Commander breakout waiting to change that.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.