Blue Elemental Blast
Instant
Choose one —
• Counter target red spell.
• Destroy target red permanent.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border
- Price
- $10.00
- EDHREC rank
- #10764
Blue Elemental Blast counters or destroys any red permanent or spell for a single blue mana — one of the most efficient hate pieces ever printed. Run it if your meta has red in it, which it almost always does.
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, Blue Elemental Blast earns a slot in any blue deck that regularly faces red — it answers Jeska, Thrice Reborn, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, and Deflecting Swat for one mana with no conditions. Pauper is where Blue Elemental Blast has historically been most dominant, acting as a full answer to the red aggro and burn staples that define that format's threats. Legacy and Vintage both permit it, and while the competition for one-mana interaction is steep there, hitting Goblin Guide, Price of Progress, or a Through the Breach activation is real utility. Oathbreaker mirrors the Commander calculus — if red commanders are present at your table, one mana to stop them cold is a bargain.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Blue Elemental Blast is already budget in terms of function-per-mana, but if the $10 price tag is the obstacle, Hydroblast does the same thing for roughly $1 and the difference is purely cosmetic — same oracle text, different name, legal in the same formats. If you need broader interaction rather than strict red hate, Miscast or Swan Song get you cheap blue interaction that isn't color-locked, at the cost of conditional coverage.
Price Context
Current price
$10.00 mid tier
At $10, Blue Elemental Blast sits in mid-tier pricing for a narrow hate piece — you're paying for the original printing's age and collector demand more than scarcity of effect. Hydroblast fills the same mechanical role for a fraction of the cost, so $10 is a premium for the name on the card rather than the function it provides.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.