Bloodbraid Elf
Creature — Elf Berserker
Haste (This creature can attack and 
as soon as it comes under your control.)
Cascade (When you cast this spell, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card that costs less. You may cast it without paying its mana cost. Put the exiled cards on the bottom in a random order.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- GR
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Foundations Jumpstart
- Price
- $0.17
- EDHREC rank
- #4549
Bloodbraid Elf puts a 3/2 haste body on the board and a free spell in play for four mana — that's two threats for the price of one, at instant-speed relevance the moment it resolves. Averna, the Chaos Bloom turns every cascaded land hit into a free land drop, making Bloodbraid Elf pull double duty as both a threat and a mana accelerant.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Averna, the Chaos Bloom
Averna, the Chaos Bloom appears in 89% of Bloodbraid Elf decks for good reason — every cascade trigger lets Averna put lands into play untapped, so Bloodbraid Elf isn't just a threat, it's a free land drop stapled to a haste attacker.
Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald
Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald creates a Wolf token whenever you cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand, and cascade qualifies — Bloodbraid Elf generates two triggers in one cast, one for itself and one for the cascaded spell.
Maelstrom Wanderer
Maelstrom Wanderer already cascades twice on entry, and Bloodbraid Elf fits the cascade-matters shell as a redundant dig piece that also presents a hasty threat while chaining into a third spell.
Ognis, the Dragon's Lash
Ognis, the Dragon's Lash rewards haste creatures with Treasure tokens, and Bloodbraid Elf's built-in haste means it produces a Treasure on the same turn it enters — the cascaded spell is pure upside on top of that mana generation.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Modern, Bloodbraid Elf spent years on the banned list before its 2018 reinstatement, and it immediately slotted back into Jund as a four-mana value engine that cascades into Liliana of the Veil or Lightning Bolt. Legacy treats it as a fair card in a format full of unfair ones — playable but not format-defining. In Commander, Bloodbraid Elf earns its slot almost exclusively in cascade-matters or Temur value shells, where every cascade trigger compounds into something larger; outside those archetypes it's a competent but unexciting four-drop.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.17 bulk tier
At $0.17, Bloodbraid Elf is deep bulk — years of reprints have driven it to the floor, and there's no reason to expect that to change given its continued reprint eligibility. Pick up as many copies as cascade decks demand without a second thought.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Averna, the Chaos Bloom
- Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald
- Maelstrom Wanderer
- Ognis, the Dragon's Lash
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.