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Sunbird's Invocation

Enchantment

Whenever you cast a spell from your hand, reveal the top X cards of your library, where X is that spell's mana value. You may cast a spell with mana value X or less from among cards revealed this way without paying its mana cost. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.

CMC
6
Mana cost
{5}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
rare
Set
Ixalan Promos
Price
—
EDHREC rank
#1831
Buy on TCGplayer
Sunbird's Invocation card art
Sunbird's Invocation turns every spell you cast into a cascade-style free cast off the top, and in Commander that means your expensive spells are finding other expensive spells — the engine snowballs fast. The six-mana setup cost is real, but decks like Bello, Bard of the Brambles that already want to slam high-CMC spells treat it as a must-answer enchantment; if it survives a turn cycle, the game often ends shortly after, and a timely Approach of the Second Sun hit off the trigger can close things outright.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Bello, Bard of the Brambles

Bello, Bard of the Brambles

76.5% of decks · synergy 0.68

Bello, Bard of the Brambles rewards you for casting instants and sorceries with high mana values, so Sunbird's Invocation is doing exactly what the deck wants — every big spell digs for another big spell, compounding the damage output Bello is already threatening.

02

Ashling, Rekindled

62.1% of decks · synergy 0.60

Ashling, Rekindled cares about casting and copying spells, and Sunbird's Invocation adds a free cast trigger to every spell in the chain, effectively doubling the density of effects on any turn Ashling is active.

03
Wildsear, Scouring Maw

Wildsear, Scouring Maw

67.4% of decks · synergy 0.59

Wildsear, Scouring Maw wants to slam high-cost spells and punish opponents for having permanents, so Sunbird's Invocation stacks directly on top of that plan — each spell hit off the trigger is another threat or sweeper landing for free.

04
Radha, Heir to Keld

Radha, Heir to Keld

53.4% of decks · synergy 0.45

Radha, Heir to Keld generates combat mana to fuel large top-end plays, and Sunbird's Invocation converts that mana advantage into card advantage, ensuring the big spells Radha enables keep finding more gas.

05
Averna, the Chaos Bloom

Averna, the Chaos Bloom

41.3% of decks · synergy 0.39

Averna, the Chaos Bloom already produces extra mana through cascade triggers, and Sunbird's Invocation layers a pseudo-cascade onto every intentionally cast spell on top of those chains, letting the deck go wider and deeper on the same turn.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Sunbird's Invocation is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but its competitive home is exactly one of those — Commander. In 60-card formats where games end on turn three or four, a six-mana enchantment that requires spells cast after it to generate value is simply too slow to matter; you'll never untap with it in Legacy or Vintage against anything serious, and Modern and Pioneer have enough efficient interaction to answer it before you see a trigger. Commander is the format where Sunbird's Invocation is genuinely dangerous: games go long enough for it to land, the average spell CMC is high enough that the revealed cards are meaningful, and a single unanswered trigger chain can dominate a table. Oathbreaker is the one other format worth mentioning — if your signature spell costs four or more, you can loop Sunbird's Invocation triggers repeatedly and bury opponents in free casts.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

unknown tier

Current pricing data for Sunbird's Invocation isn't available in this snapshot, so check Scryfall or your preferred vendor for the live number. Historically it's sat in the $2–5 range for non-foil copies, which makes it an easy pickup given the raw power level in Commander.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.