Spinebiter
Creature — Phyrexian Beast
Infect (This creature deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters and to players in the form of poison counters.)
You may have this creature assign its combat damage as though it weren't blocked.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- New Phyrexia
- Price
- $0.34
- EDHREC rank
- #15544
Spinebiter puts a poison counter on a player every time it deals combat damage — no infect required, just a 4/3 body with trample for six mana that turns every hit into a clock. The cost is the problem: six mana for a vanilla-statted threat that needs ten connections to close a game is a bad rate in any competitive context.
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, Spinebiter is a fringe poison-counter enabler in dedicated proliferate or infect-adjacent builds — it earns its slot only when you have enough proliferate to make each counter count, and even then it competes with strictly better options. In Legacy and Vintage, six mana for a 4/3 is unplayable; neither format has the time or the interest. Modern is the same story — Spinebiter's rate is nowhere near competitive, and infect strategies there win faster with cheaper creatures. Oathbreaker shares Commander's casual range, so the same narrow-poison-build caveat applies.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.34 bulk tier
At $0.34, Spinebiter is deep bulk — you'll find it in a bulk bin or a dollar box without effort. The price is unlikely to move given how rarely it sees play outside of highly specific poison-counter Commander lists.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.