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Unctus, Grand Metatect

Legendary Artifact Creature — Phyrexian Vedalken

Other blue creatures you control have "Whenever this creature becomes tapped, draw a card, then discard a card."
Other artifact creatures you control get +1/+1.
{U/P}: Until end of turn, target creature you control becomes a blue artifact in addition to its other colors and types. Activate only as a sorcery. ({U/P} can be paid with either {U} or 2 life.)

CMC
3
Mana cost
{1}{U}{U}
Color identity
U
Rarity
rare
Set
Phyrexia: All Will Be One
Price
—
EDHREC rank
#3682
Buy on TCGplayer
Unctus, Grand Metatect card art
Unctus, Grand Metatect turns any artifact creature into a looting machine and an untap engine in a single card — the upside is real and immediate. The cost is building around it: the untap payoff only fires when you're already running cards like Freed from the Real or commanders like Rona, Herald of Invasion, so it earns its slot in those shells and sits idle in the wrong ones.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01

Rona, Herald of Invasion

35.8% of decks · synergy 0.35

Rona, Herald of Invasion is the natural home — her untap trigger on legendary spells pairs directly with Unctus, Grand Metatect's looting ability to filter into more legends and keep the engine spinning. In high numbers of Rona decks, Unctus shows up at a 36% inclusion rate, and it's not hard to see why: every untap is a free loot, which is a free step toward combo.

02
Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

35.3% of decks · synergy 0.30

Leonardo da Vinci produces artifact creature tokens that become immediate Unctus, Grand Metatect targets, letting every activated tap of da Vinci's ability feed back into card selection. The pairing shows up in over 35% of Leonardo da Vinci lists, reflecting how cleanly Unctus plugs into a token-generating artifact shell.

03
Lady Octopus, Inspired Inventor

Lady Octopus, Inspired Inventor

35.7% of decks · synergy 0.30

Lady Octopus, Inspired Inventor rewards tapping artifacts, and Unctus, Grand Metatect gives every artifact creature a reason to tap beyond combat — draw a card, untap, repeat. At a 36% inclusion rate, Unctus is nearly mandatory in Lady Octopus lists that want to chain activations.

04
Sai, Master Thopterist

Sai, Master Thopterist

26.1% of decks · synergy 0.21

Sai, Master Thopterist floods the board with Thopter tokens, which become Unctus, Grand Metatect loot outlets the moment Unctus hits play. Roughly 26% of Sai decks run Unctus, treating it as a velocity piece that converts disposable tokens into card advantage.

05
Captain Howler, Sea Scourge

Captain Howler, Sea Scourge

20.8% of decks · synergy 0.20

Captain Howler, Sea Scourge cares about tapping creatures and generating value from repeated activations, and Unctus, Grand Metatect's untap grant slots into that gameplan as both an enabler and a draw filter. At about a 21% inclusion rate across a large number of decks, Unctus is a solid support piece rather than a core piece here, but the synergy is genuine.

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

Commander is where Unctus, Grand Metatect does its best work — the format's singleton rule makes its looting ability valuable for filtering, and the abundance of artifact-creature synergy commanders gives it a natural home. In Legacy and Vintage, it's legal but far too slow and conditional; those formats don't need a three-mana legendary to grant looting, and they certainly don't build around untap engines that ask for setup. Modern and Pioneer are theoretically legal too, but Unctus, Grand Metatect hasn't carved out a competitive niche in either format — the payoff requires a critical mass of artifact creatures and a dedicated untap package that those formats don't assemble consistently enough to matter. In Oathbreaker it can function similarly to its Commander role, especially as a signature spell's engine piece.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

3,786 decks
Unctus, Grand MetatectAphetto Alchemist

Unctus, Grand MetatectAphetto Alchemist

Infinite draw triggers; Infinite looting; Infinite self-discard triggers

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

unknown tier

Pricing data for Unctus, Grand Metatect isn't currently available in our system, so check Scryfall or your preferred retailer for a live number. Given its role as a combo enabler in dedicated artifact-creature shells, price tends to track demand from Commander rather than competitive formats — worth grabbing if you're building Rona or a similar deck and find it at a reasonable rate.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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