Phantom Beast
Creature — Illusion Beast
When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Magic 2011
- Price
- $0.06
- EDHREC rank
- #29000
Phantom Beast is a 3/5 with flying for four mana that loses a +1/+1 counter instead of being destroyed — a resilient blocker that trades removal efficiency for raw durability. It's a fine limited card and a niche pick in counter-manipulation decks, but too vanilla for competitive Commander tables.
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 |
Phantom Beast sees essentially zero competitive play in Legacy, Modern, or Vintage — the rate is just too fair when those formats demand either efficiency or a broken payoff. In Pauper it's a legal option, but a 3/5 flyer at four mana with a pseudo-indestructible trigger doesn't outclass the format's better commons. Commander is where Phantom Beast has the most plausible home, specifically in Atraxa, Praetors' Voice or Skullbriar, the Walking Grave style decks that care about counters being added and removed — but even there, better options exist at the same slot.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.06 bulk tier
At $0.06, Phantom Beast is deep bulk — the kind of card you pull from a common box without thinking twice. Don't expect the price to move; there's no competitive demand driving a reprint premium or a spike.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.