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Starling, Aerial Ally

MSC · common · Released 2026-06-26

Power

brawl
trapFillertrap
commander
trapFillertrap

Tier shown as baseline → best-case (in its ideal shell).

Derived from the 7 atoms below.

under

below rate

incremental

minor value alone

synergy

wants support

caps

fixed effect

rigid

one mode

narrow

situational

fragile

easily answered

Commander Bracket

1Precon2Core3Upgraded4Optimized5cEDH

Archetypes

positive:
voltronaura-voltronequipment-voltron
negative:

No active conflicts.

Roles

evasive-threatevasion-grantetb-trigger

Risks

etb-onlyslow-setup

Mechanics

Typal

synergy:
humanhero
anti:

Structural

triggered-ability

Rationale

5cmc 3/4 flying legendary human that grants flying to another creature until end of turn on ETB. The evasion grant is purely temporary and one-shot, making this a modest rate card; it finds its best homes in casual voltron or human typal shells that want flying attackers, but the effect is too narrow and fleeting to be format-defining. Fits bracket 1-2 precon/casual play where a 3/4 flyer with upside is still meaningful.

Learnings (2)

  • The ETB flying grant is until end of turn only — it does not persist, so it cannot be used to give a blocker flying on an opponent's turn unless Starling has flash or is flickered at instant speed.

    tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6

  • As a common-rarity legendary creature, Starling is a budget commander option for white weenie or human typal decks but is outclassed by virtually every other 5cmc legend as a commander choice.

    tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6

Popularity

  • EDHREC rank: #20,720