Nikara, Lair Scavenger

two generic mana one black mana Legendary Creature — Human ClericPower and toughness2/2

Partner with Yannik, Scavenging Sentinel (When this creature enters, target player may put Yannik into their hand from their library, then shuffle.)

Menace

Whenever another creature you control leaves the battlefield, if it had one or more counters on it, you draw a card and you lose 1 life.

Add to list Build a deck around it

Showing Commander 2020#3

Price

0.94 $

Foil 0.51 $

8 printings

Daily estimate from Scryfall, not a shop quote.

View onScryfall EDHREC

Buy this printingTCGplayer Cardmarket Cardhoarder

Nikara, Lair Scavenger rulings

2020-04-17
Nikara's last ability causes you to draw only one card and lose only 1 life, no matter how many counters or kinds of counters that creature had on it.
2020-04-17
If a creature with +1/+1 counters on it receives an equal number of -1/-1 counters and this causes it to be destroyed by lethal damage or put into its owner's graveyard for having 0 or less toughness, Nikara's last ability triggers. That's because the ability checks the creature as it last existed on the battlefield, and it still had those counters on it at that point.
2020-04-17
If a creature with counters on it leaves the battlefield at the same time as Nikara, Nikara's ability triggers for that creature.
2020-04-17
"Partner with [name]" represents two abilities. The first is a triggered ability: "When this permanent enters the battlefield, target player may search their library for a card named [name], reveal it, put it into their hand, then shuffle their library."
2020-04-17
Note that the target player searches their library (which may be affected by effects such as that of Stranglehold) and that the card they find is revealed, even though these words aren't included in the ability's reminder text.
2020-04-17
The second ability represented by the "partner with [name]" keyword modifies the rules for deck construction in the Commander variant and has no function outside of that variant. If a legendary creature card with "partner with [name]" is designated as your commander, the named legendary creature card can also be designated as your commander.
2020-04-17
If your Commander deck has two commanders, you can only include cards whose own color identities are also found in your commanders' combined color identities. If Haldan and Pako are your commanders, your deck may contain cards with blue, red, and/or green in their color identity, but not cards with white or black.
2020-04-17
Both commanders start in the command zone, and the remaining 98 cards of your deck are shuffled to become your library.
2020-04-17
A creature with a "partner with" ability can't partner with any creature other than its designated partner. Losing a partner ability during the game doesn't cause either to cease to be your commander.
2020-04-17
Once the game begins, your two commanders are tracked separately. If you cast one, you won't have to pay an additional the first time you cast the other. A player loses the game after having been dealt 21 damage from one of them, not from both of them combined. Command Beacon's effect puts one into your hand from the command zone, not both.
2020-04-17
The triggered ability of the "partner with" keyword still triggers in a Commander game. If your other commander has somehow ended up in your library, you can find it. You can also target another player who might have that card in their library.

Nikara, Lair Scavenger keyword rules

Partner Rule 702.124

Partner abilities are keyword abilities that modify the rules for deck construction in the Commander variant (see rule ), and they function before the game begins. Each partner ability allows you to designate two legendary cards as your commander rather than one. Each partner ability has its own requirements for those two commanders. The partner abilities are: partner, partner with [name], friends forever, choose a Background, and Doctor’s companion.

Your deck must contain exactly 100 cards, including its two commanders. Both commanders begin the game in the command zone.

A rule or effect that refers to your commander’s color identity refers to the combined color identities of your two commanders. See rule .

Except for determining the color identity of your commander, the two commanders function independently. When casting a commander with partner, ignore how many times your other commander has been cast (see rule ). When determining whether a player has been dealt 21 or more combat damage by the same commander, consider damage from each of your two commanders separately (see rule ).

If an effect refers to your commander while you have two commanders, it refers to either one. If an effect causes you to perform an action on your commander and it could affect both, you choose which it refers to at the time the effect is applied.

Different partner abilities are distinct from one another and cannot be combined. For example, you cannot designate two cards as your commander if one of them has “partner” and the other has “partner with [name].”

If a legendary card has more than one partner ability, you may choose which one to use when designating your commander, but you can’t use both. Notably, no partner ability or combination of partner abilities can ever let a player have more than two commanders.

“Partner” means “You may designate two legendary creature cards as your commander rather than one if each of them has partner.”

“Partner with [name]” represents two abilities. It means “You may designate two legendary creature cards as your commander rather than one if each has a ‘partner with [name]’ ability with the other’s name” and “When this permanent enters, target player may search their library for a card named [name], reveal it, put it into their hand, then shuffle.”

“Friends forever” means “You may designate two legendary creature cards as your commander rather than one if each of them has friends forever.”

“Choose a Background” means “You may designate two cards as your commander rather than one if one of them is this card and the other is a legendary Background enchantment card.” You can’t designate two cards as your commander if one has a “choose a Background” ability and the other is not a legendary Background enchantment card, and legendary Background enchantment cards can’t be your commander unless you have also designated a commander with “choose a Background.”

“Doctor’s companion” means “You may designate two legendary creature cards as your commander rather than one if one of them is this card and the other is a legendary Time Lord Doctor creature card that has no other creature types.”

If an effect refers to a partner ability by name, it means only that partner ability and not any others. If an effect refers to the partner ability or cards with partner and doesn’t mention a specific variant of the partner ability by name, it is referring only to partner, partner with [name], or cards with either of those abilities, and does not refer to any other partner variant.