Last updated on December 26, 2025
Zirda, the Dawnwaker | Illustration by Justine Mara Andersen
Greetings planeswalkers! Let’s keep things light and talk about one of my favorite animals. Foxes are adorable for sure, but how do they fare in our favorite magical card game?
To find out, let’s take a pleasant journey through Magic Foxdom, ranking all relevant fox cards from worst to best. I’ll cover a wide variety of MTG formats, but primarily be focused on casual play and Commander.
Let’s begin!
What Are Foxes in MTG?
Silverchase Fox | Illustration by Howard Lyon
Fox is a creature type in Magic with very little cohesive mechanical identity, mostly used as a world-building creature type. There are 45 fox creatures in Magic so far, a good saga that flips into a fox (The Restoration of Eiganjo), and two cards that reference foxes in some way (Patron of the Kitsune and Genku, Future Shaper). These foxes come from a wide variety of Magic sets but were featured most prominently in Kamigawa block and its sequel, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.
Thirty-six of these are mono-white cards. If we’re being honest, most foxes in this game have been of the “Limited filler” variety.
#15. Kitsune Blademaster
Kitsune Blademaster was a great white creature… two decades ago. I gave it a slot on the list out of respect for what a 2/2 first strike with upside meant in 2004. I never drafted Champions of Kamigawa, but a quick run through the set shows you that this was above rate for the time!
#14. Silverchase Fox
Silverchase Fox is an adorable Grizzly Bears for Draft or Sealed that can also exile enchantments if needed. It has more appeal in Commander than many other foxes, as you can use graveyard recursion effects to exile enchantments several times with this if need be. There are probably better versions of this effect, but those versions don’t say “fox” in the type line!
#13. Farfinder
Farfinder is a cute value creature that was great in Ikoria Limited. This was a staple for mutate decks which often splashed and could leverage the weak initial body (with vigilance!) to great effect. Farfinder is still playable to this day in various Commander decks, as it has a comparable rate to cards like Pilgrim's Eye. I used it myself in an Otrimi, the Ever-Playful deck.
#12. Filigree Familiar
Filigree Familiar is similar to Farfinder in that both are 3-mana disposable value creatures. It distinguishes itself by being an artifact creature, though. It wasn’t very good in its Standard as it couldn’t block Smuggler's Copter. One notable thing about this card is that it has a flavorful “sequel” in Etched Familiar. This is a solid value card for an artifact-centric deck like Oswald Fiddlebender or Saheeli, the Sun's Brilliance.
#11. Selfless Samurai
Boros () samurai was a bit of a bust in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, but it certainly wasn’t Selfless Samurai’s fault. This card combines two very useful abilities for the deck (lifelink and indestructible) into one efficient package. It’s a must-have for Samurai EDH, as well.
#10. Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant is a really interesting Commander card due to how easy it is to flip in that format. Given that you start with 40 life, you can play Rune-Tail's Essence right away on turn 3! Whether or not this flip card is good depends on the kind of table you’re playing at. It’s great for combat and against damage-based sweepers, but it’s also highly vulnerable to Naturalize effects.
#9. Mila, Crafty Companion / Lukka, Wayward Bonder
Mila, Crafty Companion was a really promising card that unfortunately never made much of an impact on Standard. Like several other cards from Strixhaven, Mila, Crafty Companion is a modal double-faced card, the other side being Lukka, Wayward Bonder.
The basic “pitch” for playing this card in Standard is that it was one part annoying value creature (Mila, Crafty Companion) and one part clunky finisher (Lukka, Wayward Bonder). Cards like this have inherent flexibility in that they cover two slots on your curve and also mitigate the drawback of being legendary by being two different cards in one.
However, Mila, Crafty Companion lacked a home, and Lukka, Wayward Bonder is just an atrocious planeswalker for its cost. Its +1 is only card advantage if you discard creatures (hard to do after casting a 6-drop), its -2 requires setup to do anything, and the -7 requires three full turn cycles to pull off. Mila, Crafty Companion was definitely the better card of the two, but it still lacked the power to do much on its own. Either way, it’s a cool value creature for any RWx Commander deck.
#8. Vulpine Harvester
Vulpine Harvester is a solid Phyrexian fox included in one of the March of the Machine Commander precons. It works best with a couple of disposable artifacts like Commander's Sphere, Jeweled Lotus, and Nihil Spellbomb.
#7. Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice
Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice is an aura/Voltron build-around that had a brief period of success in MTGA's Historic format. UW Auras was at one point a top deck with scary nut draws featuring Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice. It played a wide variety of auras (including the disposable Sentinel's Eyes) and could often tutor up whatever it needed for maximum Voltroning. The deck has fallen off since then, though, as Historic has gotten much more powerful over time.
Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice is lackluster in your command zone due to being a mono-white commander, which dramatically limits your options for good auras. It’s most appealing in EDH as a member of the 99 in an auras deck, though still unpopular there. Regardless, it’s a powerful enough card that it definitely deserved a spot here.
#6. Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor
New name, same fox! Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor is watching the throne while The Wandering Emperor is away, and it’s looking to do a new spin on Voltron in the meantime. Like its predecessor, this newer version is another mono-white fox advisor that rewards you for auras. Though it’s less appealing to load up on its own, it has a better stat line and can pick up value while you beef up something else better suited to wear pants. I like it as a support card in decks focused on auras like Mazzy, Truesword Paladin.
#5. Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener
Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener is a Naya commander that happens to be the only fox with more than two colors. Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener is also the only legendary creature with the backup mechanic from March of the Machine. It works best in a deck centered around +1/+1 counters, and EDH has a lot of great +1/+1 counters commanders.
#4. Flourishing Fox
Flourishing Fox was a nightmare card in Limited that also managed to see a respectable amount of Standard play in Boros () cycling decks. It was often paired with Zenith Flare, as both took advantage of cheap cyclers to fuel powerful effects. Though it always started small, Flourishing Fox could get out of control very quickly!
Though cycling isn’t a common archetype in Commander, there’s a great Jeskai commander for it (Gavi, Nest Warden) that absolutely would play Flourishing Fox. EDH has a large enough card pool that you should have plenty of decent cyclers to include, too.
#3. Werefox Bodyguard
Werefox Bodyguard from Wilds of Eldraine is an excellent Fiend Hunter variant that still has some time to prove itself in Standard. Though it isn’t seeing much play now, this card has a lot of things going for it:
- It has flash, which makes it dramatically more flexible and a bit safer to use.
- It can target both your opponent’s stuff and yours.
- You can sacrifice Werefox Bodyguard at any time, which gives you a practical way to free your own stuff if you exiled it with the Bodyguard.
- And finally, it has two useful creature types (elf and knight), on top of the adorable one that earns it a spot in this ranking.
Werefox Bodyguard has careful templating with “non-fox” to prevent it from going infinite with two copies of itself. Either way, there’s a lot to like about this card in Standard, Commander, and Wilds of Eldraine Limited where it was an easy P1P1.
#2. The Restoration of Eiganjo / Architect of Restoration
The Restoration of Eiganjo may not be Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, but it’s good enough to at least get a comparison going. This white saga is a natural 2-for-1 that can also be a 3-for-1 or ramp spell if you’re discarding the right cards to Chapter 2. Though not technically a fox on the front side, it makes this list by virtue of Architect of Restoration.
I’d recommend The Restoration of Eiganjo in many Commander decks, especially if you’re white with enchantment synergies or in need of a good discard outlet. It’s not the most overwhelming EDH card or anything, but it can be a solid value play.
#1. Zirda, the Dawnwaker
Zirda, the Dawnwaker takes the top spot by virtue of the busted companion mechanic. Though one of the lesser-played companions, Zirda, the Dawnwaker can still potentially be a free 3/3 for a variety of strategies. It competes with Kaheera, the Orphanguard for a slot in decks like UW Control, a Azorius () control deck in Modern playing the following cards:
These all just happen to be permanents with activated abilities! Unfortunately for Zirda, the Dawnwaker, there’s a little creature called Solitude that has people playing Kaheera, the Orphanguard over Zirda. But Zirda is at the very least an option for certain rogue brews that happen to be playing the right cards for it.
In Commander, Zirda has access to easy infinite mana combos with Basalt Monolith and Grim Monolith. It can make for a good Boros commander on its own, as a solid activated ability commander for example, or as a companion for a variety of other decks. Optimizing for permanents having activated abilities is much easier in EDH than other formats!
What About Bloomburrow?
Unfortunately for our foxy friends, Bloomburrow doesn’t have a single fox in the main set!
However, there’s good news in the Commander precons, as the very sweet fox Mr. Foxglove was included in one of the precons.
While I don’t have a 99 for it yet, building around Mr. Foxglove looks fun! Some things that gel well with this commander are:
- Ways to grant it haste (Lightning Greaves, Lavaspur Boots).
- Good equipment in general, as lifelink goes well with boosts and you’d like it to survive combat.
- Its triggered ability is quite versatile; if you’re low on resources, it can catch you up. If you’re ahead/even on resources, then you’ll want huge battlecruisers, which it can cheat into play by matching the hand size of an opponent (i.e. fatties like Avenger of Zendikar, Sun Titan, or Avacyn, Angel of Hope).
And, while planeswalkers don't actually gain the fox creature type, we do get this beauty of a Jace, the Mind Sculptor reprint.
Are There Any Legendary Foxes?
Yes! There are actually 10 legendary foxes in total (not counting Kitsune Mystic, which flips into one). Seven of these are mono-white. These include:
- Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener
- Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
- Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice
- Mila, Crafty Companion
- Mr. Foxglove
- Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo
- Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor
- Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
- Sensei Golden-Tail
- Zirda, the Dawnwaker
Are There Any Fox Lords?
No. With foxes, you’re limited to generic creature buffers like Radiant Destiny, Rally the Ranks, and Door of Destinies. There probably aren’t enough playable foxes to justify this approach either.
Wrap Up
Werefox Bodyguard | Illustration by Nestor Ossandon Leal
There aren’t that many foxes in MTG, but after reviewing them, I’ll say this: It could be worse!
Several foxes make fine inclusions for various white EDH decks, but our card pool is unfortunately light on foxes so far. I’m still holding out hope that WotC eventually prints a truly broken fox.
Are you also a fan of foxes? Let me know in the comments or in the Draftsim Discord.
Until next time!
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