Waylaying Pirates
Creature — Human Pirate
When this creature enters, if you control an artifact, tap target artifact or creature an opponent controls and put a stun counter on it. (If a permanent with a stun counter would become untapped, remove one from it instead.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
- Price
- $0.15
- EDHREC rank
- #19801
Waylaying Pirates puts two 2/2 Pirates onto the battlefield and replaces itself with a Treasure token — three permanents for four mana at instant speed. The rate is mediocre for anything except a dedicated Pirates or Treasure shell, where the tribal synergies make the inefficiency worth tolerating.
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, Waylaying Pirates earns a slot only if your deck cares about Pirates by name or needs incidental Treasure generation alongside a body count — Breeches, Brazen Plunderer and Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator lists are the clearest fits. In 60-card formats the card simply doesn't compete: Modern, Pioneer, and Standard all have cheaper, more efficient token and Treasure generators that don't ask you to spend four mana at sorcery-equivalent value. Pauper is the one fringe exception, where the instant speed and the sheer number of permanents produced could matter in a tribal Pirates build with nothing better available.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.15 bulk tier
At $0.15, Waylaying Pirates is deep bulk — the kind of card you grab as a throw-in, not a purchase. Bulk commons rarely recover value unless a future set hands them unexpected tribal relevance, so don't hold copies speculatively.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.