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Veteran of the Depths

Creature — Merfolk Soldier

Whenever this creature becomes tapped, you may put a +1/+1 counter on it.

CMC
4
Mana cost
{3}{W}
Color identity
W
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Lorwyn
Price
$0.19
EDHREC rank
#24082
Buy on TCGplayer
Veteran of the Depths card art
Veteran of the Depths puts a free 1/1 Soldier token on the battlefield every time a nontoken creature enters under your control — that's a persistent board presence that compounds fast in any creature-heavy shell. The cost is real: the combo ceiling is high but narrow, and without payoffs like Animation Module to spin counters into more tokens, it's just incremental value.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is the natural home for Veteran of the Depths — 100-card decks running 30-plus creatures turn it into a token engine that produces value from the first creature spell onward. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but irrelevant; the formats move too fast for a four-mana 2/3 whose payoff is incremental board development. Modern is theoretically accessible but the same speed problem applies — Veteran of the Depths asks for a creature-heavy midrange shell that already has faster token producers available. Oathbreaker can support it in the right +1/+1 counter or Soldier list, but the ceiling there is lower than in Commander where the longer game rewards slow accumulation.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.19 bulk tier

At $0.19, Veteran of the Depths is firmly bulk — it's a zero-hesitation include if it fits your gameplan. Bulk rares with narrow combo applications rarely climb unless a format breakout happens, so don't expect this to move off the bulk bin floor anytime soon.

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Sources

Mentioned

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