Possessed Skaab
Creature — Zombie
When this creature enters, return target instant, sorcery, or creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
If this creature would die, exile it instead.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Pioneer Masters
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #20737
Possessed Skaab enters and retrieves an instant, sorcery, or creature from your graveyard — repeatable recursion stapled to a body that asks to be blinked. The catch is the exile clause on death, which means anything that bounces it safely, like Ghostly Flicker, does more work here than a straight sacrifice outlet.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Possessed Skaab is a Commander card through and through — the format's longer games give you time to set up blink loops and grind out card advantage that would be far too slow anywhere else. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer it's simply outclassed: five mana for a 3/2 with a one-shot recursion trigger doesn't compete with the raw speed and efficiency those formats demand. Vintage has the same problem at a higher power ceiling. Oathbreaker can get there if the commander supports a blink or self-mill strategy, but Commander remains the clear home for Possessed Skaab.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Ghostly FlickerPeregrine DrakePossessed Skaab
Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite storm count; Infinite mana lands you control can produce; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite blinking; Infinite landfall triggers; Infinite untap of lands you control
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
DisplacePeregrine DrakePossessed Skaab
Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite storm count; Infinite mana lands you control can produce; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite blinking; Infinite landfall triggers; Infinite untap of lands you control
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Illusionist's StratagemPeregrine DrakePossessed Skaab
Infinite card draw; Infinite draw triggers; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite blinking; Near-infinite landfall triggers; Near-infinite magecraft triggers; Near-infinite mana lands you control can produce; Near-infinite storm count; Near-infinite untap of lands you control
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
DoppelgangPossessed Skaab
Infinite ETB; Infinite storm count; Infinite creature tokens; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite landfall triggers; Infinite copies of all permanents; Infinite mana permanents you control can produce; Return all instant and sorcery cards from your graveyard to your hand; Return all creature cards from your graveyard to your hand
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Rise of the Dark RealmsPhyrexian AltarPossessed Skaab
Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite colored mana; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite death triggers; Infinite storm count; Infinite magecraft triggers; Return all creature cards from all graveyards to the battlefield under your control
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Price data for Possessed Skaab isn't currently available, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the latest. Given its niche role as a combo enabler rather than a broadly played staple, it typically sits in budget territory and is worth picking up if you're building the relevant shell.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.