Astral Steel
Instant
Target creature gets +1/+2 until end of turn.
Storm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each spell cast before it this turn. You may choose new targets for the copies.)
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Scourge
- Price
- $0.10
- EDHREC rank
- #17668
Astral Steel grants +1/+1 and first strike until end of turn, then recoups itself with spell mastery — a one-mana pump that replaces itself once you have two instants or sorceries in the graveyard. In any deck that cares about cheap instants repeatedly, Astral Steel earns its slot; outside Zethi, Arcane Blademaster and similar recursion engines, it's too narrow to run.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Zethi, Arcane Blademaster
Zethi, Arcane Blademaster imprints cheap instants and recasts them every combat, turning Astral Steel into a free +1/+1 and first strike trigger that fires every time Zethi attacks — it's exactly the kind of low-cost, high-repetition spell the engine is built around.
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 |
Astral Steel is a Commander card first — the spell mastery draw only becomes consistent when you have a commander like Zethi, Arcane Blademaster generating repeated instant casts, and 100-card singleton means you need that engine in place before Astral Steel does real work. In Pauper it's legal but competes with a dense field of better one-mana pump spells, and the spell mastery condition is harder to satisfy reliably in shorter games. Legacy and Vintage have no interest in it — the effect is too small for those formats' power level. Oathbreaker mirrors the Commander case: strong in the right spellslinger shell, irrelevant outside one.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.10 bulk tier
At $0.10, Astral Steel is deep bulk — you're paying almost nothing for a card whose ceiling is firmly niche. Don't expect the price to move; it will stay at the bottom of the bulk bin unless a new commander creates a breakout Zethi-style demand spike.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.