Winged Hive Tyrant
Creature — Tyranid
Flying, haste
The Will of the Hive Mind — Other creatures you control with counters on them have flying and haste.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- RU
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Warhammer 40,000 Commander
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #6165
Winged Hive Tyrant lands as a flying, trampling threat that generates Tyranid tokens on entry and swings the board immediately. The mana cost is steep, but The Swarmlord makes that irrelevant — this card is a payoff, not a luxury.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
The Swarmlord
Winged Hive Tyrant is an 88% inclusion in The Swarmlord decks for good reason — it enters, floods the board with Tyranid tokens, and The Swarmlord's keyword counters engine turns every one of those bodies into a growing threat.
Magus Lucea Kane
Magus Lucea Kane's copy mechanic doubles Winged Hive Tyrant's enter-the-battlefield trigger, meaning two waves of tokens off a single cast — that's the whole reason it shows up in over two-thirds of Kane lists.
Sonic the Hedgehog
Winged Hive Tyrant's combination of flying, trample, and token generation gives Sonic the Hedgehog decks a wide-board finisher that doubles as evasive pressure in the same package.
Me, the Immortal
Me, the Immortal wants large, impactful creatures that justify their cost, and Winged Hive Tyrant delivers immediate board presence alongside token generation — exactly what that deck wants at the top of the curve.
Animar, Soul of Elements
Animar, Soul of Elements reduces Winged Hive Tyrant's heavy mana cost to something castable mid-game, letting the deck deploy a flying trample token-generator well ahead of schedule.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Winged Hive Tyrant is a Commander card through and through — its enter-the-battlefield token generation and synergy with Tyranid-specific commanders like The Swarmlord reward the slower, multiplayer pace of EDH in ways no other format can match. It's technically legal in Legacy and Vintage, but a seven-mana creature with no immediate game-breaking effect has no business in either format's competitive landscape. Oathbreaker is the one other format where Winged Hive Tyrant could see play, specifically in a Tyranid-themed shell, but the card pool there is narrow enough that it remains a niche pick.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Winged Hive Tyrant isn't currently available through our sources, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the most accurate current number. Given its near-90% inclusion rate in The Swarmlord decks, demand is real — if you're building that commander, pick it up before interest consolidates the price.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.