Phyrexian Vatmother
Creature — Phyrexian Horror
Infect (This creature deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters and to players in the form of poison counters.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, you get a poison counter.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Mirrodin Besieged
- Price
- $0.34
- EDHREC rank
- #13572
Phyrexian Vatmother puts a 4/5 infect body on the board for four mana and poisons the player who controls it — a liability you can weaponize by donating it with Jon Irenicus, Shattered One, forcing an opponent to eat two poison counters per turn. Run it in that shell and it's a removal-resistant clock; run it anywhere else and you're paying in life for a vanilla beater.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Jon Irenicus, Shattered One
Jon Irenicus, Shattered One donates Phyrexian Vatmother to an opponent, flipping the cumulative poison drawback into a game-ending threat — the recipient takes two poison counters every upkeep and can't easily attack with a 4/5 infect creature pointed at its own team.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Phyrexian Vatmother is essentially a Jon Irenicus, Shattered One card — outside that specific donation shell, the poison-counter upkeep cost is a real liability across a long multiplayer game. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but never sees play; infect decks in those formats want one-mana threats that close the game on turn one or two, not a four-mana creature that punishes its own controller. Modern has faster, more consistent infect packages, and Phyrexian Vatmother's rate doesn't compete. Oathbreaker is the one fringe spot where a donation-style strategy could replicate the Commander angle at a smaller table.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.34 bulk tier
At $0.34, Phyrexian Vatmother is bulk — a card whose narrow role keeps demand low and supply permanent. That price is stable for as long as it stays a Jon Irenicus staple rather than a crossover pickup, so don't expect movement in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.