River Hoopoe
Creature — Bird
Flying
: You gain 2 life and draw a card.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- GU
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Amonkhet Remastered
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #18947
River Hoopoe is a two-mana 1/1 flyer that pays you life and cards whenever it deals combat damage — not a threat on its own, but a persistent value engine in the right shell. The ceiling is high in Azorius or Simic builds that can consistently connect with a small evasive body; everywhere else, it's too fragile and too slow.
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 |
River Hoopoe sees essentially no competitive play in Legacy, Modern, or Pioneer — a 1/1 for two that needs combat damage to generate value can't compete in formats where the game is often decided before it connects. Commander is where River Hoopoe actually has a home, specifically in life-gain or flying-matters decks that can protect a small evasive creature and snowball the card advantage it generates over a long game. In Oathbreaker the same logic applies at a smaller scale, though the faster pace makes it harder to justify the slot.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Price data for River Hoopoe isn't currently available in the index, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for current buylist and retail numbers. Given its narrow competitive applications, it's almost certainly a bulk rare — fine to pick up in a trade binder, but not worth hunting down at a premium.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.