Spiny Starfish
~$0.27 TCGplayer
Blue. Creature — Starfish
Alliances #35 · Illustrated by Alan Rabinowitz
Alliances #35 · Illustrated by Alan RabinowitzWhat is Spiny Starfish worth?
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TCGplayer market prices in USD, updated October 14, 2026. Each price is for one printing and one finish.
Oracle text
: Regenerate this creature.
At the beginning of each end step, if this creature regenerated this turn, create a 0/1 blue Starfish creature token for each time it regenerated this turn.
0/1
Format legality
The only printing of Spiny Starfish
| Printing | Rarity | Non-foil | Cardmarket (EUR) | My collection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Alliances all #35· 1996uncommon· Cardmarket €0.27 | uncommon | $0.27 | €0.27 |
Prices are TCGplayer market prices in USD for each printing and finish, via Scryfall. They are a guide, not an appraisal.
Where to buy Spiny Starfish
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Card details
- First printed
- 1996
- Printings
- 1
- Mana value
- 3
- EDHREC rank
- #18,851 on EDHREC (Commander popularity)
- Keywords
- Regenerate
- Artist
- Alan Rabinowitz
What the codes mean
The small print at the bottom of the Alliances card (#35).
Printed before collector numbers, which started with Exodus in 1998. The bottom shows only the artist credit ("Illus.") and the copyright. Set symbols were all black before Exodus, and core sets before Sixth Edition have none.
How to read a Magic card: every part and code, on real cards.
Card breakdown
The parts of Spiny Starfish, read from the Alliances printing. How to read any Magic card.
- Name
- Spiny Starfish. Rules use the English name in every language.
- Mana cost
- Mana value 3: the total mana in the cost, colors ignored.
- Type line
- Creature is the card type. Starfish is the subtype, after the dash.
- Text box
- What the card does.
- Power / toughness
- 0/1: power is the combat damage it deals; toughness is how much damage destroys it.
- Illustration
- By Alan Rabinowitz. The art has no effect on the game.
- Set symbol
- Alliances. Before Exodus (1998) every set symbol was black, whatever the rarity.
- Artist
- Alan Rabinowitz, after "Illus.".
- Copyright
- Wizards of the Coast's copyright notice, with the year.
Keywords
- RegenerateCR 701.19
- The next time it would be destroyed this turn, instead remove all damage from it, tap it and remove it from combat.
Rule numbers from the Magic Comprehensive Rules, version of September 25, 2026.
Rulings (4)
2009-10-01
The second ability doesn’t care where the regeneration shields Spiny Starfish used that turn came from. If it regenerated due to a regeneration shield from Refresh, for example, the ability will still put a Starfish token onto the battlefield.
2009-10-01
Spiny Starfish’s first ability creates a regeneration shield for it. Spiny Starfish’s second ability checks whether it _used_ any regeneration shields that turn, not whether any regeneration shields were created for it.
2009-10-01
The second ability has an “intervening ‘if’ clause,” so it won’t trigger at all unless Spiny Starfish had regenerated that turn. However, the number of tokens that are created isn’t determined until the ability resolves (in case it regenerates again before that time).
2009-10-01
If Spiny Starfish regenerates during the end step after its second ability has resolved, no tokens will be created as a result.
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