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Shivan Phoenix

Creature — Phoenix

Flying
When this creature dies, return it to its owner's hand.

CMC
6
Mana cost
{4}{R}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
rare
Set
Urza's Legacy
Price
$0.70
EDHREC rank
#22627
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Shivan Phoenix card art
Shivan Phoenix is a recursive 2/2 flyer that keeps coming back from the graveyard as long as you're casting Phoenix spells — a self-replenishing threat that demands a permanent answer. Six mana is steep for the body, but pairing it with Sneak Attack or slotting it under Syrix, Carrier of the Flame turns the recursion loop into a damage engine that opponents can't outrun.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Syrix, Carrier of the Flame

Syrix, Carrier of the Flame

30.5% of decks · synergy 0.30

Syrix, Carrier of the Flame triggers off every Phoenix entering and leaving the battlefield, so Shivan Phoenix's built-in recursion loop becomes a repeatable Syrix trigger — each return from the graveyard pings a player or planeswalker and threatens to close the game on its own.

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

Shivan Phoenix is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it sees essentially no competitive play in Legacy or Vintage — six mana for a 2/2 is simply not where those formats operate. Commander is its real home, specifically in Phoenix tribal shells where the recursion clause compounds with other graveyard triggers and cost-reduction effects. In Oathbreaker it's theoretically playable but faces the same raw-efficiency problem; you need a dedicated Phoenixes-matter shell to justify the slot.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.70 bulk tier

At $0.70, Shivan Phoenix sits firmly in bulk territory — easy to acquire and low-risk to test. Bulk Phoenix cards rarely climb without a new commander or mechanic pushing the tribe, so treat it as a cheap functional piece rather than a spec.

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Sources

Mentioned

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