Rampaging Yao Guai
Creature — Bear Mutant
Vigilance, trample
This creature enters with X +1/+1 counters on it.
When this creature enters, destroy any number of target artifacts and/or enchantments with total mana value X or less.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Fallout
- Price
- $7.92
- EDHREC rank
- #2977
Rampaging Yao Guai enters as a 4/4 with trample and immediately puts two +1/+1 counters on another target creature, making it a two-body punch in a single card slot. Ayula, Queen Among Bears turns that trigger into a fight or pump effect before you've even passed the turn, which is the clearest proof of how much this card punches above a five-mana slot.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Ayula, Queen Among Bears
Rampaging Yao Guai enters and immediately hands Ayula, Queen Among Bears a trigger — two counters on any Bear means either a fight or a pump effect before priority even passes, turning a midrange beater into an interactive play.
Rosheen, Roaring Prophet
Rosheen, Roaring Prophet cares about cards with X in their costs, and Rampaging Yao Guai's Fallout background means it slots naturally into the Fallout-synergy suite Rosheen decks assemble around wasteland and mutation themes.
Duskana, the Rage Mother
Duskana, the Rage Mother buffs 2/2 creature tokens, and Rampaging Yao Guai's counter-distribution can pump weaker creatures into the power bracket that triggers Duskana's anthem and fight abilities.
Jenova, Ancient Calamity
Jenova, Ancient Calamity rewards running high-power creatures across multiple types, and Rampaging Yao Guai's stat line and immediate counter placement fit cleanly into the threat density Jenova lists want.
The Wise Mothman
The Wise Mothman proliferates counters whenever an opponent loses life to radiation, and Rampaging Yao Guai seeds the battlefield with +1/+1 counters that immediately become proliferate targets — every subsequent radiation trigger scales every counter it placed.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Rampaging Yao Guai is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but its home is Commander by a wide margin. In 60-card Legacy and Vintage, a five-mana 4/4 with a one-time ETB trigger has no competitive floor — those formats end or stabilize before this does anything relevant. Oathbreaker is the only 60-card adjacent format where it sees any play, and only inside dedicated counter or creature synergy shells. Commander is where Rampaging Yao Guai earns its slot: the format's slower clock, multiplayer life totals, and density of counter-based synergies all make the ETB trigger and the trample body genuinely useful rather than merely printable.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Rampaging Yao Guai's core job is distributing +1/+1 counters on entry while bringing a relevant body — creatures like Tuskguard Captain or Fertilid cover pieces of that at under a dollar, but neither combines the immediate counter placement with a standalone attacking threat in one card. If the counter trigger matters more than the body, Armorcraft Judge and Generous Patron cost pennies and can net cards instead, though they trade the proactive aggression of Rampaging Yao Guai for a more reactive role.
Price Context
Current price
$7.92 mid tier
At $7.92, Rampaging Yao Guai sits in the mid tier — not a budget inclusion, but not a barrier for a dedicated counter or Bear deck that leans on it heavily. The price is tied to niche Commander demand rather than broad cross-format play, so it's stable as long as Ayula and counter-synergy builds stay popular, with little upward pressure beyond that.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Ayula, Queen Among Bears
- Rosheen, Roaring Prophet
- Duskana, the Rage Mother
- Jenova, Ancient Calamity
- The Wise Mothman
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.