Is Scuttletide good in Commander?

Scuttletide in Commander — Combos, Decks & Price

Scuttletide churns out a 1/1 Crab token every time you cycle a card, turning your draw-smoothing into a board presence engine that compounds quickly. The cost is real — you need a dedicated cycling shell to get full value, and without one it's just a three-mana enchantment that does nothing on its own. In the right deck, particularly alongside Charix, the Raging Isle where Crab tribal payoffs stack up, it's an automatic include; outside of that context, build around it deliberately or skip it.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01

Charix, the Raging Isle

43.9% of decks · synergy 0.43

Scuttletide is a cornerstone of Charix, the Raging Isle decks — every cycled card adds a Crab to the battlefield, padding your Crab count for tribal synergies while Charix itself serves as a massive, nearly unkillable threat that benefits from a wide board of tokens providing chump blocks and incidental pressure.

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

Scuttletide is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but its actual home is Commander, where 100-card singleton decks can be built to maximize cycling density and Crab synergies over a longer game. In Modern and Legacy, the card simply doesn't have the raw power level to compete — cycling payoffs in those formats demand more immediate impact than a three-mana enchantment that produces 1/1s. Vintage has no interest in it. Oathbreaker is the one supplementary format where a cycling-heavy build could make Scuttletide legitimately threatening, especially under an Oathbreaker that rewards token generation.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

503 decks

Marneus CalgarScuttletideAshnod's Altar

Infinite draw triggers; Infinite rummaging; Infinite self-discard triggers; Near-infinite colorless mana; Near-infinite creature tokens; Near-infinite death triggers; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite sacrifice triggers

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317 decks

ScuttletideAshnod's Altar Skullclamp

Infinite draw triggers; Infinite looting; Infinite self-discard triggers; Near-infinite card draw; Near-infinite colorless mana; Near-infinite creature tokens; Near-infinite death triggers; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite sacrifice triggers

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163 decks

Marneus CalgarScuttletidePhyrexian Altar

Infinite draw triggers; Infinite rummaging; Infinite self-discard triggers; Near-infinite death triggers; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite sacrifice triggers

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53 decks

ScuttletideAshnod's Altar Liliana, Dreadhorde General

Infinite draw triggers; Infinite looting; Infinite self-discard triggers; Near-infinite colorless mana; Near-infinite death triggers; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite sacrifice triggers

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20 decks

ScuttletideAshnod's Altar Kindred Discovery

Infinite draw triggers; Infinite rummaging; Infinite self-discard triggers; Near-infinite colorless mana; Near-infinite creature tokens; Near-infinite death triggers; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite sacrifice triggers

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

unknown tier

Pricing data for Scuttletide isn't currently available, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the latest figures before buying. Given its narrow application — primarily Charix, the Raging Isle and dedicated cycling Commander builds — it's unlikely to command a premium, and picking up a copy while demand is low is a reasonable move if the deck calls for it.