Simian Spirit Guide
Creature — Ape Spirit
Exile this card from your hand: Add 
.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Secret Lair Drop
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #439
Simian Spirit Guide is a free red mana spell — exile it from hand, get one mana, pay nothing — and that speed is exactly why it slots into competitive Commander lists that want to move faster than the game allows. Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver runs it because casting Dargo on turn one off a handful of these exiled apes is the whole point.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | banned |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Simian Spirit Guide is banned in Modern, which tells you everything about how warping a free mana source is in a format built around turn-four goldfishing — it consistently enabled turn-one and turn-two kills that the format couldn't police. Vintage and Legacy can absorb it because those formats already have Moxen and Lotus, so one more ritualistic ape doesn't break the metagame. Commander gives Simian Spirit Guide a pass for a structural reason: 40 life and four players dilute the speed advantage enough that a single free red mana on turn one rarely closes the game by itself, making it a tempo tool rather than a broken enabler.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver
Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver is the defining home for Simian Spirit Guide — exiling multiple copies lets you cast Dargo for one or two mana on turn one, immediately opening the Tymna draw engine before most opponents have played their second land.
Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh // Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh // Silas Renn, Seeker Adept runs a similar zero-cost commander package, and Simian Spirit Guide fills the same role: it provides the red mana to deploy supporting pieces the turn Rograkh hits the table for free, accelerating the artifact-reanimation loop Silas enables.
Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator // Vial Smasher the Fierce
Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator // Vial Smasher the Fierce wants to cast spells on opponents' turns to trigger Vial Smasher and generate treasure with Malcolm, and Simian Spirit Guide provides the burst mana to hold up interaction or deploy a threat at instant speed without tapping out on your own turn.
Slicer, Hired Muscle
Slicer, Hired Muscle costs three mana but rewards you for deploying it as fast as possible, and Simian Spirit Guide is one of the cleanest ways to get that colorless-or-red prerequisite mana on turn one or two without a land drop.
Etali, Primal Conqueror
Etali, Primal Conqueror is an eight-mana card that wins on contact, so any deck built around it is hunting for every piece of acceleration available — Simian Spirit Guide contributes one free mana toward either haste enablers or the ramp spells that get Etali into play before turn six.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Current pricing data for Simian Spirit Guide isn't available in this snapshot, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the live number before buying. Historically it sits in the $3–$8 range depending on printing, with the Planar Chaos version carrying a premium — worth verifying which printing you're buying.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver
- Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh // Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
- Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator // Vial Smasher the Fierce
- Slicer, Hired Muscle
- Etali, Primal Conqueror
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.