Blunt the Assault
Instant
You gain 1 life for each creature on the battlefield. Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Scars of Mirrodin
- Price
- $0.23
- EDHREC rank
- #12706
Blunt the Assault stops a full combat cold — it prevents all damage each creature would deal this turn and gains you life equal to the number of creatures on the board, which in Commander can mean 20+ life off a single card. Four mana at instant speed is the honest cost, and that's fine for a fog that also pads your life total in proportion to the board state threatening you.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Blunt the Assault earns its slot in token-heavy or wide-board metas where a single fog would save you but lifegain staples the door shut — the bigger the combined board, the bigger the swing. Pauper is the other format where it sees real consideration, since premium fog effects are scarce at common and the life cushion matters in aggressive matchups. In Legacy, Modern, and Vintage it's outclassed by cheaper fogs like Fog or Ethereal Haze that do the same combat-prevention job for one mana; the lifegain upside doesn't offset that cost gap in formats where tempo is everything.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.23 bulk tier
At $0.23, Blunt the Assault sits firmly in bulk territory — a negligible ask for what it does. Bulk commons rarely move on price unless a format spike drives sudden demand, and this one has no history of that, so don't expect it to change.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.