Stag Beetle
Creature — Insect
This creature enters with X +1/+1 counters on it, where X is the number of other creatures on the battlefield.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Onslaught
- Price
- $0.62
- EDHREC rank
- #19680
Stag Beetle enters as a potentially massive beater — its power and toughness each equal the number of other creatures you control, so in a populated board it arrives as a 6/6 or larger for five mana. The catch is that an empty board turns it into an embarrassing 0/0 that dies immediately, which makes Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn // Isilu, Carrier of Twilight and other token-generating commanders the natural home.
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 |
Stag Beetle is a Commander card through and through — the format's singleton rule and 40-life pods reward the go-wide strategies that let it enter as a legitimate threat. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but irrelevant; those formats have no interest in a five-mana vanilla creature whose size depends on board state. Commander is where the math works: a typical tokens or +1/+1 counters deck can reliably flood the board before turn five, and Stag Beetle rewards that work with raw stat density at a reasonable mana cost.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn // Isilu, Carrier of TwilightAshnod's AltarStag Beetle
Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite colorless mana; Infinite death triggers; Infinite sacrifice triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn // Isilu, Carrier of TwilightCarrion FeederStag Beetle
Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite death triggers; Infinite sacrifice triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn // Isilu, Carrier of TwilightViscera SeerStag Beetle
Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite death triggers; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite scry 1
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn // Isilu, Carrier of TwilightShilgengar, Sire of FamineStag Beetle
Infinite Blood tokens; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite death triggers; Infinite sacrifice triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn // Isilu, Carrier of TwilightBlasting StationStag Beetle
Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite damage; Infinite death triggers; Infinite sacrifice triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.62 bulk tier
At $0.62, Stag Beetle is bulk — easy to pick up as a casual inclusion without any real financial commitment. The price reflects its narrow playability; it holds value only as long as token and creature-count strategies stay popular in Commander.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn // Isilu, Carrier of Twilight
- Ashnod's Altar
- Carrion Feeder
- Viscera Seer
- Shilgengar, Sire of Famine
- Blasting Station
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.