Pyre Hound
Creature — Elemental Dog
Trample
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Masters 25
- Price
- $0.11
- EDHREC rank
- #18221
Pyre Hound grows every time you cast an instant or sorcery, but a 1/2 body for four mana is a poor chassis to build that growth on. Slower formats will answer it before it matters, and competitive spell-slinger decks have better payoffs at this slot.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Pyre Hound is a Pauper-level card, and that's the format where it sees the most legitimate play — commons-only spell-heavy decks in red can deploy it as a credible finisher when the card pool is constrained. In Commander, four mana for a 1/2 is too fragile to rely on as a payoff when Monastery Swiftspear and Electrostatic Field exist at lower cost in the same archetype. Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, and Vintage all have faster, more resilient threats that simply render Pyre Hound irrelevant. It's legal across nearly every format, but legality isn't a recommendation.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.11 bulk tier
At $0.11, Pyre Hound is deep bulk — you're not paying for power, you're paying for cardboard. Bulk commons rarely appreciate, and given the competition at this role in every format, there's no pressure catalyst that would change that.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.