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Shaun, Father of Synths

Legendary Creature — Human Scientist

Whenever you attack, you may create a tapped and attacking token that's a copy of target attacking legendary creature you control other than Shaun, except it's not legendary and it's a Synth artifact creature in addition to its other types.
When Shaun leaves the battlefield, exile all Synth tokens you control.

CMC
5
Mana cost
{3}{U}{R}
Color identity
RU
Rarity
rare
Set
Fallout
Price
$1.11
EDHREC rank
#6335
Buy on TCGplayer
Shaun, Father of Synths card art
Shaun, Father of Synths hands you a free extra combat step whenever a Synth token enters under your control — stack enough token production and you're swinging four, five, six times a turn with commanders like Aurelia, the Warleader or finishing games outright with Liberty Prime, Recharged. The cost is a four-mana legendary that does nothing without a steady Synth supply, so he's an engine piece, not a standalone threat.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Liberty Prime, Recharged

Liberty Prime, Recharged

42.7% of decks · synergy 0.40

Liberty Prime, Recharged is the premier home for Shaun, Father of Synths because Prime's triggered ability generates Synth tokens on each combat, which feeds directly back into Shaun's extra-combat trigger — the two cards form a self-reinforcing loop that snowballs every turn cycle.

02
Obeka, Splitter of Seconds

Obeka, Splitter of Seconds

21.2% of decks · synergy 0.20

Obeka, Splitter of Seconds builds around taking extra turns and extra combats, and Shaun, Father of Synths slots in as another source of free combat steps that Obeka can weaponize without spending additional mana.

03
Dr. Madison Li

Dr. Madison Li

21.8% of decks · synergy 0.19

Dr. Madison Li cares about artifacts and tokens entering the battlefield, which means every Synth Shaun, Father of Synths triggers off of is also advancing Li's own engine — the overlap in resource generation makes cutting either one difficult.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern not legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is the only format where Shaun, Father of Synths does anything close to what it promises — 100-card singleton gives you room to assemble a Synth-token suite, and the multiplayer table rewards the explosive extra-combat payoff. In Legacy and Vintage he's technically legal but has no meaningful presence; four mana for a creature that asks you to build around a narrow token subtype has no competitive footing in either format. Oathbreaker is the one fringe case worth noting, since the tighter game length actually rewards the fast snowball his loop enables.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

173 decks
Shaun, Father of SynthsBreath of Fury

Shaun, Father of SynthsBreath of Fury

Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite death triggers; Infinite combat phases; Infinite untap of creatures you control; Infinite mana creatures you control can produce; Infinite combat damage

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$1.11 cheap tier

At $1.11, Shaun, Father of Synths sits firmly in budget territory for a build-around legendary with a clear competitive ceiling in Commander. That price is unlikely to compress much further given his narrow Synth-tribal requirement, but it also won't spike unless a new Synth-token producer pushes the archetype into broader relevance.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.