Water Tribe Captain
Creature — Human Soldier Ally
: Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Price
- $0.09
- EDHREC rank
- #20353
Water Tribe Captain enters as a 2/2 that hands every other Merfolk you control +1/+1 and islandwalk, turning a board of fish into an unblockable swarm the moment an opponent runs Islands. The islandwalk clause is the reason to run it — in any blue-heavy meta, that's a free evasion spell stapled to a lord.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Water Tribe Captain slots cleanly into Merfolk tribal lists where opponents are almost guaranteed to control Islands, making the islandwalk grant effectively unconditional evasion across the table. In 1v1 formats like Modern and Pioneer, it's a fringe consideration — Merfolk already has stronger lords, and islandwalk only punches through decks running basic Islands, which narrows the impact considerably. Pauper is its best competitive home outside Commander, where blue-heavy opponents are common and a pump-plus-evasion lord at three mana can close games. Legacy and Vintage have no interest; the power ceiling is too low for those formats.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.09 bulk tier
At $0.09, Water Tribe Captain is deep bulk — you're paying for the effect, not the cardboard. Bulk commons and uncommons at this price point rarely move unless a tribal deck spikes in popularity, so don't expect appreciation.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.