Swimmer in Nightmares
Creature — Nightmare Merfolk
This creature gets +3/+0 as long as there are ten or more cards in a single graveyard.
This creature can't be blocked as long as you control an Ashiok planeswalker.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Theros Beyond Death
- Price
- $0.20
- EDHREC rank
- #27439
Swimmer in Nightmares is a three-mana 4/4 with menace when you control no other nonland permanents — a massive stat line for the cost, with a condition that most decks can't reliably satisfy past turn three. It's a build-around payoff, not a free inclusion.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Swimmer in Nightmares sees essentially no play in competitive formats — Modern and Legacy have faster clocks and more reliable threats that don't require you to strip your board. In Commander, the condition is nearly impossible to engineer consistently given the 99-card singleton pool and the inevitability of artifacts, enchantments, and tokens accumulating. The card has a narrow home in dedicated "empty board" strategies, but those decks are fringe even within Commander's wide tent.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.20 bulk tier
At $0.20, Swimmer in Nightmares is deep bulk — priced exactly where a narrow build-around with no competitive traction belongs. Don't expect movement; demand is too thin to push it off the bulk floor.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.