Troublesome Spirit
Creature — Spirit
Flying
At the beginning of your end step, tap all lands you control.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Prophecy
- Price
- $0.31
- EDHREC rank
- #29105
Troublesome Spirit is a 3/4 flying beater for three mana — excellent stats — but it taxes you one blue mana per upkeep or it attacks its controller, which means it punishes any game state where you can't reliably leave up blue. In dedicated blue decks that flood the board with Islands or generate surplus mana, that drawback is negligible; everywhere else, it's a liability.
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 |
In Commander, Troublesome Spirit is a fringe inclusion in blue-heavy decks that can absorb the upkeep cost without thinking — Talrand, the Sky Summoner or Urza, Lord High Artificer shells where blue mana is abundant and 3/4 flying bodies matter. Legacy and Vintage are the only other formats where it's legal, and in neither does it compete — the rate simply isn't there against the threats those formats present. Troublesome Spirit is essentially a Commander-only card in practice, and even there it shows up rarely, since most blue decks would rather run evasive threats without strings attached.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.31 bulk tier
At $0.31, Troublesome Spirit is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard, not scarcity. The price reflects its narrow application; there's no reason to expect movement in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.