Tributary Instructor
Creature — Merfolk Shaman
Mentor (Whenever this creature attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on target attacking creature with lesser power.)
Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it dies, draw a card.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander
- Price
- $0.40
- EDHREC rank
- #7851
Tributary Instructor enters the battlefield and immediately puts a +1/+1 counter on every Merfolk you control — no hoops, no activation cost, just a static ETB that scales with your board. In Hakbal of the Surging Soul decks, that counter distribution triggers Hakbal's explore cascade on each creature it touches, turning a single two-mana 2/2 into a wave of card selection and land drops.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Hakbal of the Surging Soul
Hakbal of the Surging Soul's ability triggers once per Merfolk that gets a counter, so Tributary Instructor's ETB can fire off explores equal to the number of Merfolk you control — a single cast can refill your hand and accelerate your land drops mid-combat.
Toph, Hardheaded Teacher
Toph, Hardheaded Teacher rewards building a wide creature base with counters, and Tributary Instructor delivers both at once — a board-wide counter distribution that fuels Toph's counter-synergy payoffs while adding a relevant body to the red zone.
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 |
Tributary Instructor is a Commander card through and through — the effect is built for wide tribal boards, and those don't exist at meaningful scale in Legacy or Vintage, where it's technically legal but irrelevant. Outside of 100-card singleton, the card is too conditional and too low-powered for any competitive 60-card format. In Commander and Oathbreaker, it earns its slot in Merfolk decks specifically, and nearly nowhere else — if your commander doesn't care about +1/+1 counters or Merfolk, Tributary Instructor has nothing to offer.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.40 bulk tier
At $0.40, Tributary Instructor is bulk — pick it up without thinking about it if you're building Hakbal of the Surging Soul. Bulk Merfolk tribal pieces don't spike unless the archetype gets a high-profile reprint or a new pushed commander, so expect this price to stay flat.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.