The Archimandrite
Legendary Creature — Human Advisor
At the beginning of your upkeep, you gain X life, where X is the number of cards in your hand minus 4.
Whenever you gain life, each Advisor, Artificer, and Monk you control gains vigilance and gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is the amount of life you gained.
Tap three untapped Advisors, Artificers, and/or Monks you control: Draw a card.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- RUW
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- The Brothers' War Commander
- Price
- $0.35
- EDHREC rank
- #16716
The Archimandrite pumps your whole party — Clerics, Rogues, Warriors, and Wizards each get +1/+1 — and replaces itself with a card draw when any of those creature types enters, all on a single five-mana body. The combo ceiling with Beacon of Immortality and a life-gain payoff seals it as a genuine build-around, not just a tribal support piece.
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 |
Commander is where The Archimandrite actually lives — five mana is affordable in a format that runs ramp, and a four-subtype anthem with built-in draw triggers scales well in 100-card decks that can mix Clerics, Rogues, Warriors, and Wizards. Legacy and Vintage are technically legal but offer no realistic home; five-mana do-nothing-immediately creatures don't survive those environments. Oathbreaker could support a party-style build, though the 20-life starting total makes the life-gain combo lines slightly less reliable.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
The ArchimandriteTrue ConvictionDelusions of Mediocrity
Target opponent loses the game
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
The ArchimandriteIntruder AlarmThe Locust God
Infinite card draw; Infinite draw triggers; Near-infinite creature tokens with haste; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite untap of all creatures
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.35 bulk tier
At $0.35, The Archimandrite is deep bulk — easy to pick up as a throw-in or cheap order filler. Bulk rares with narrow tribal requirements rarely climb unless a pushed commander drags them up, so don't expect appreciation, but the entry cost is low enough that the risk is negligible.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Beacon of Immortality
- Illusions of Grandeur
- True Conviction
- Delusions of Mediocrity
- Intruder Alarm
- The Locust God
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.