Windbrisk Raptor
Creature — Bird
Flying
Attacking creatures you control have lifelink.
- CMC
- 7
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Shadowmoor
- Price
- $7.34
- EDHREC rank
- #14037
Windbrisk Raptor turns every attacking creature into a lifelink threat and hands that life directly back to your team as a power buff — on a 4/5 flier that can already close games on its own. Seven mana is real, but Kastral, the Windcrested decks treat it as a centerpiece finisher rather than a luxury.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Kastral, the Windcrested
Kastral, the Windcrested rewards stacking fliers and draining life, so Windbrisk Raptor's lifelink anthem doubles as both a combat multiplier and fuel for Kastral's own life-total synergies — nearly one in five Kastral lists runs it.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Windbrisk Raptor is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it sees essentially no competitive play outside Commander — seven mana is a non-starter in formats where games end on turn four. In Commander, the card earns its slot in go-wide white or Azorius flying strategies where the lifelink-to-power conversion creates exponential combat math that opponents struggle to race. Oathbreaker is the only other format where a dedicated life-gain shell could realistically cast and leverage it, but the 60-card singleton constraints make it a fringe inclusion at best.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Archangel of Thune offers a similar lifelink-plus-power-buff effect on a cheaper body and at a lower mana cost, though it requires life gain triggers from other sources rather than providing lifelink itself. If the goal is simply mass lifelink, Angelic Skirmisher or Odric, Lunarch Marshal can distribute the keyword across your team for less mana — neither replicates the life-to-power conversion that makes Windbrisk Raptor uniquely explosive in a wide-board combat step.
Price Context
Current price
$7.34 mid tier
At $7.34, Windbrisk Raptor sits in the mid tier — affordable enough to include without a second thought in a dedicated flying or life-gain build, but not cheap enough to throw in speculatively. It's a niche card with a narrow home, so its price is stable rather than driven by broad demand.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.