Xande, Dark Mage
Legendary Creature — Human Wizard
Menace (This creature can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.)
Xande gets +1/+1 for each noncreature, nonland card in your graveyard.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Final Fantasy
- Price
- $1.01
- EDHREC rank
- #15688
Xande, Dark Mage lands as a threat that demands an immediate answer — the on-board pressure it generates is real, and the cost to include it is low enough that there's no serious argument against running it in the right shell. Sephiroth, Planet's Heir is the obvious home, where Xande slots directly into the engine rather than sitting on the margins.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Sephiroth, Planet's Heir
Sephiroth, Planet's Heir runs Xande, Dark Mage in over 25% of its decks because Xande feeds the exact resource loop Sephiroth wants to exploit — the two cards are pulling in the same direction from turn one.
Emet-Selch, Unsundered
Emet-Selch, Unsundered picks up Xande, Dark Mage at a 21% clip because Xande's effect maps cleanly onto what Emet-Selch is already assembling, adding redundancy to a game plan that rewards stacking similar pieces.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Xande, Dark Mage is legal across every major constructed format, but Commander is where it actually gets played — the singleton environment and slower game speed give Xande room to do its thing without the consistency demands of 60-card formats. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer, the competition for a slot at its mana cost is steep enough that Xande won't displace established staples without a very specific deck architecture built around it. Standard and Oathbreaker are viable homes if the right support exists in the current card pool, but Commander remains the clear primary format by volume and synergy density.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.01 cheap tier
At $1.01, Xande, Dark Mage sits in the cheap tier — low enough to pick up without deliberation, high enough above bulk that demand is real. Given its concentration in commander-focused Final Fantasy sets with a defined player base, the price is unlikely to collapse further.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Sephiroth, Planet's Heir
- Emet-Selch, Unsundered
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.