Aether Sting
Enchantment
Whenever an opponent casts a creature spell, this enchantment deals 1 damage to that player.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Urza's Destiny
- Price
- $0.43
- EDHREC rank
- #14192
Aether Sting deals 1 damage to each opponent whenever they cast a creature spell — a soft tax that adds up over a long game but never threatens to end one. Four mana for a symmetry-breaking enchantment that caps out at chip damage is a bad rate in almost every context.
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 |
In Commander, Aether Sting occupies a narrow slot: enchantments that punish creature-heavy tables, alongside much stronger options like Nettle Drone effects or Purphoros, God of the Forge. The 1-damage trigger is too small to deter casts and too slow to close games, which is the core problem. Legacy and Vintage are non-starters — the format speed makes a four-mana do-nothing enchantment unplayable. Aether Sting is legal in Oathbreaker as well, but the same structural weakness follows it there.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.43 bulk tier
At $0.43, Aether Sting is firmly bulk — the price reflects what the market thinks of it, which is not much. There's no pressure driving this up, and better damage-on-cast options exist at the same price point or lower.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.