Zirilan of the Claw
Legendary Creature — Lizard Shaman
, 
: Search your library for a Dragon permanent card, put that card onto the battlefield, then shuffle. That Dragon gains haste until end of turn. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Mirage
- Price
- $10.80
- EDHREC rank
- #17525
Zirilan of the Claw puts any Dragon from your library directly onto the battlefield for five mana — the attack trigger alone ends games, and pairing it with Worldgorger Dragon generates infinite ETBs before the exile clause ever resolves. The cost is real: the summoning-sickness restriction and end-of-turn exile mean you need a way to keep your Dragon in play, but Dragon tribal builds have enough redundancy to treat that as a puzzle, not a dealbreaker.
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 |
Commander is where Zirilan of the Claw actually lives — it's the centerpiece of mono-red Dragon tribal decks and a powerful piece in the 99 of any red commander that wants Dragon density. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but faces zero competitive play; five mana for a creature-based tutor is nowhere near the power level those formats demand. Oathbreaker is theoretically possible but the format's 58-card constraint and faster pace work against a five-drop that needs a Dragon package to function.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Zirilan of the ClawWorldgorger DragonApocalypse
Exile all permanents opponents control; Mass Land Denial
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Zirilan of the Claw has no direct budget replacement — it's already the cheapest repeatable Dragon tutor in red by a wide margin. Flameshadow Conjuring or Sneak Attack can cheat Dragons into play for less mana investment, but both lose the library-search aspect that makes Zirilan's consistency argument so strong.
Price Context
Current price
$10.80 mid tier
At $10.80, Zirilan of the Claw sits in the mid tier — reasonable for a Commander staple with no modern reprint and a narrow but devoted player base. It's a stable hold: low enough that Dragon tribal players rarely think twice, high enough that casual demand alone keeps it from dropping further.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Worldgorger Dragon
- Apocalypse
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.