Skittering Cicada
Creature — Insect
Flash
You may cast colorless spells as though they had flash.
Whenever you cast a colorless spell, until end of turn, this creature gains trample and gets +X/+X, where X is that spell's mana value.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Commander Masters
- Price
- $11.78
- EDHREC rank
- #3222
Skittering Cicada makes every colorless spell you cast trigger twice — that's the whole pitch, and it's absurd in the right shell. Zhulodok, Void Gorger and Ulalek, Fused Atrocity both run it at high rates for exactly that reason: doubling free spells or cascade triggers off a two-mana creature is an immediate, game-warping return on investment.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Zhulodok, Void Gorger
Zhulodok, Void Gorger casts colorless spells with cascade, and Skittering Cicada doubles each of those triggers — every Eldrazi titan you cast effectively fires twice, burying opponents in free spells.
Ulalek, Fused Atrocity
Ulalek, Fused Atrocity copies spells whenever you cast an Eldrazi that shares a subtype with another you control, and Skittering Cicada doubles your colorless casts to generate that trigger more aggressively and fuel the copy chain faster.
Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer
Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer is a morph commander, and Skittering Cicada's triggered ability applies to colorless spells — morph creature spells cast face-down are colorless, so Cicada doubles every face-down morph cast and synergizes cleanly with the entire Kadena engine.
Ultima, Origin of Oblivion
Ultima, Origin of Oblivion cares about casting colorless spells to proliferate and accrue counters, and Skittering Cicada doubling those triggers means twice the proliferate events off the same sequence of plays.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Skittering Cicada is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but Commander is the only format where it sees meaningful play. In Legacy and Vintage, the card is too slow and too narrow — doubling colorless spell triggers is a value-over-time effect that doesn't match the pace of those formats. Oathbreaker is a real home if your planeswalker and signature spell are colorless, but the player pool is small. Commander is where Skittering Cicada earns its slot: a 73% inclusion rate in Zhulodok, Void Gorger decks speaks for itself.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Ulalek, Fused AtrocityDrowner of Truth // Drowned JungleSkittering Cicada
Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite death triggers; Infinite storm count; Infinite creature tokens; Infinite copies of abilities you control on the stack; Infinite copies of a specific creature
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
If the $11.78 price tag is a sticking point, Strionic Resonator ($1–2) can copy triggered abilities in a similar role, though it costs mana each time rather than triggering automatically. Herald's Horn sits in the same general space for tribal Eldrazi builds — cheaper in price, different in effect — but nothing currently replicates Skittering Cicada's automatic doubling of colorless spell triggers for less money.
Price Context
Current price
$11.78 mid tier
At $11.78, Skittering Cicada sits in the mid tier — justified for a card with 73% inclusion in one of the most-built Eldrazi commanders on EDHREC. It's a unique effect with no direct budget substitute, so the price is unlikely to crater as long as Eldrazi remain a popular Commander archetype.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Ulalek, Fused Atrocity
- Zhulodok, Void Gorger
- Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer
- Ultima, Origin of Oblivion
- Drowner of Truth // Drowned Jungle
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.