Aether Tide
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard X creature cards.
Return X target creatures to their owners' hands.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Exodus
- Price
- $0.16
- EDHREC rank
- #26586
Aether Tide bounces any number of creatures you control back to hand for one blue mana plus one blue per creature returned — a mass self-bounce that resets enter-the-battlefield triggers, saves your board from a wipe, or clears the way for a recast engine, all at instant speed. The cost scales with ambition, so you're either bouncing two creatures cheaply or committing five-plus mana for a big reset.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Aether Tide earns a slot in decks that weaponize ETB triggers — Brago, King Eternal strategies aside, it's most at home with commanders like Yarok, the Desecrated or any shell that generates value from creatures entering repeatedly. Legacy and Vintage have faster, tighter bounce options, so Aether Tide doesn't compete at those tables. Pauper is its most competitive home outside Commander, where instant-speed self-bounce at common rarity has real utility in tempo and flicker builds. Outside those formats, it's not legal.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.16 bulk tier
At $0.16, Aether Tide is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard, not scarcity. There's no pressure to buy multiple copies now; this sits at the floor and is unlikely to move without a breakout Commander printing that makes mass self-bounce a chase mechanic.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.