Star Athlete
Creature — Human Warrior
Menace
Whenever this creature attacks, choose up to one target nonland permanent. Its controller may sacrifice it. If they don't, this creature deals 5 damage to that player.
Blitz 
(If you cast this spell for its blitz cost, it gains haste and "When this creature dies, draw a card." Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.)
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander
- Price
- $0.67
- EDHREC rank
- #4810
Star Athlete enters with a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control that attacked this turn — a board-wide pump that snowballs fast in combat-heavy decks. The cost is that the payoff is entirely retroactive: you need attackers already swinging before Star Athlete does anything, making it a mediocre top-deck in losing positions but a finisher in winning ones. Gornog, the Red Reaper decks are the clearest home, where the condition is met every single turn.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Gornog, the Red Reaper
Gornog, the Red Reaper demands attackers every turn to trigger his damage-based engine, so Star Athlete's condition — counters on creatures that attacked — is met automatically and repeatedly. At a 67% inclusion rate, it's not a spice pick; it's close to a staple.
Wulfgar of Icewind Dale
Wulfgar of Icewind Dale doubles attack triggers, and Star Athlete's counter distribution fires on attack — meaning Wulfgar's redundancy directly amplifies how quickly the board grows. Two triggers in one swing cycle turns a modest buff into a serious power spike.
The Lord of Pain
The Lord of Pain cares about life loss and damage dealt, and a board full of creatures growing bigger with each attack cycle keeps that pressure escalating. Star Athlete slots in as a way to make every attack both wider and harder to block profitably.
Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls
Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls rewards opponents taking damage, incentivizing aggressive, repeated attacks — exactly the condition Star Athlete needs to distribute counters. The synergy is straightforward: you were already attacking, now the whole board grows for doing it.
The Jolly Balloon Man
The Jolly Balloon Man inflates creatures that already have counters, and Star Athlete seeds those counters across every attacker in a single turn. The two cards form a compounding loop where each attack cycle makes the Balloon Man's pump effect hit harder.
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 |
Star Athlete is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but Commander is where it actually belongs — the singleton format's multiplayer combat math gives you the wide boards and repeated attack steps that make the triggered ability meaningful. In Legacy and Vintage, aggressive creature strategies are too focused and too fast for a three-mana 2/3 that asks you to have already attacked; it simply doesn't compete with the card quality available in those formats. Oathbreaker shares Commander's attack-heavy multiplayer dynamics, so Star Athlete is playable there in the same shells. Outside of combat-centric Commander builds, the card has no real home.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.67 bulk tier
At $0.67, Star Athlete sits firmly in bulk territory — easy to acquire and not a budget concern in any build. Bulk rares with narrow homes tend to stay cheap, so there's no urgency around price, but there's also no upside to waiting if you want one.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Gornog, the Red Reaper
- Wulfgar of Icewind Dale
- The Lord of Pain
- Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls
- The Jolly Balloon Man
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.