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Xenic Poltergeist

Creature — Spirit

{T}: Until your next upkeep, target noncreature artifact becomes an artifact creature with power and toughness each equal to its mana value.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{1}{B}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
rare
Set
Fifth Edition
Price
$0.67
EDHREC rank
#19594
Buy on TCGplayer
Xenic Poltergeist card art
Xenic Poltergeist turns any noncreature artifact into a 0/2 creature until end of turn — which sounds narrow until you realize that text is a repeatable tap ability that triggers Horobi, Death's Wail on demand or feeds Aetherflux Reservoir life-gain loops by animating your own permanents as sacrifice fodder. The cost is real: you're running a three-mana 1/1 that does nothing without a board of artifacts to abuse.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Horobi, Death's Wail

Horobi, Death's Wail

16.5% of decks · synergy 0.16

Xenic Poltergeist's tap ability targets a permanent, and Horobi, Death's Wail turns any targeting into a death sentence — so tapping Xenic Poltergeist at any artifact on the battlefield, including opponents', kills it on the spot without spending a removal spell.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern not legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Xenic Poltergeist is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, and that's where the conversation ends — it's too slow and conditional for Legacy or Vintage, where the formats offer far more efficient artifact interaction. Commander is its real home, specifically artifact-heavy or mono-black builds that want repeatable, on-demand targeting triggers or sacrifice outlets. Outside of those focused shells, Xenic Poltergeist is too parasitic to earn a slot.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.67 bulk tier

At $0.67, Xenic Poltergeist is firmly bulk — cheap enough to pick up on a whim for any deck that wants it. Demand is narrow enough that the price isn't going anywhere meaningful, so grab it now if the combo appeals and don't think twice about the cost.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.