Shalai's Acolyte
Creature — Angel
Kicker 
(You may pay an additional as you cast this spell.)
Flying
If this creature was kicked, it enters with two +1/+1 counters on it.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- GW
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Dominaria United
- Price
- $0.12
- EDHREC rank
- #27624
Shalai's Acolyte puts a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control for five mana — in a deck with ten creatures on board, that's ten counters at instant speed. The cost is real, but the payoff scales hard enough that any counters deck running white should be testing it.
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 |
Commander is where Shalai's Acolyte actually lives — wide creature boards and counter synergies are endemic to the format, and five mana is trivially reachable by the turns this card matters most. In Modern or Pioneer, the rate is too slow against proactive strategies that don't care about your board growing; you'd need an established battlefield and a reason to spend sorcery speed five-mana on something that doesn't protect itself. Legacy and Vintage are non-starters — the competition for five-mana slots is too fierce and the payoff too incremental. Stick to Commander, where the card has room to breathe.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.12 bulk tier
At $0.12, Shalai's Acolyte is deep bulk — the kind of card you pull from a box and slot in without a second thought. Bulk rares at this price point rarely climb unless a breakout combo or format shift creates demand, so treat it as a free inclusion rather than a spec.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.