Skaab Ruinator
Creature — Zombie Horror
As an additional cost to cast this spell, exile three creature cards from your graveyard.
Flying
You may cast this card from your graveyard.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Innistrad
- Price
- $0.50
- EDHREC rank
- #16423
Skaab Ruinator is a 5/6 flying trampler for three mana — the stats are absurd. The catch is a real one: you pay with three creatures from your graveyard, and it climbs back out of the graveyard the same way, so it rewards decks that treat the yard as a resource rather than a place cards go to die.
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 |
In Commander, Skaab Ruinator belongs in self-mill and reanimator shells where exiling three creatures is a feature, not a cost — Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver and Phenax, God of Deception lists both generate the graveyard density to cast it repeatedly. Modern and Legacy are where it has seen competitive consideration, primarily in Dredge or Delve-adjacent strategies that flood the yard fast enough to land it on turn two; outside of those shells it's too reliant on setup to justify the slot. Vintage has the raw speed to support it, though the format's combo density means a 5/6 beatstick rarely closes games before other things happen.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.50 bulk tier
At $0.50, Skaab Ruinator is firmly bulk-rare territory, which makes it a free include for any graveyard deck that can use it. The price is stable — it's not a card waiting to spike, just a cheap, high-upside piece for the right shell.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.