Is Bulk Up good in Commander?

Bulk Up in Commander — Combos, Decks & Price

Bulk Up puts two +1/+1 counters on a creature and gives it trample until end of turn for a single green mana — that's an outsized rate for a combat trick that also feeds counter-based synergies. Evereth, Viceroy of Plunder decks in particular treat it as a must-include, and the numbers bear that out.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01

Evereth, Viceroy of Plunder

39.3% of decks · synergy 0.37

Evereth, Viceroy of Plunder cares about creatures with counters on them, and Bulk Up delivers two at instant speed for one mana — making every attack step a live threat window. The 39% inclusion rate in Evereth lists is one of the highest for any combat trick in the format.

02

Fire Lord Azula

36.6% of decks · synergy 0.32

Fire Lord Azula wants to punch through blockers and accrue incremental advantages on attacking creatures, and Bulk Up does both in one card. The trample clause is the key piece — it turns a chumped attacker into a damage dealer that still advances the board.

03

Mr. Orfeo, the Boulder

26.4% of decks · synergy 0.25

Mr. Orfeo, the Boulder rewards stacking counters on a single large threat, and Bulk Up is one of the cheapest ways to do exactly that at instant speed. Slapping two counters on Orfeo's chosen creature mid-combat often closes games that looked like stalemates.

04

Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes

26.1% of decks · synergy 0.23

Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes generates a Hamster token that grows with counters, and Bulk Up is a one-mana answer to the question of how fast you can make Boo lethal. Trample makes the counters matter even when opponents try to chump.

05

Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos

29.1% of decks · synergy 0.22

Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos scales with the number of counters spread across creatures, so Bulk Up's two-counter delivery on a single body contributes directly to the engine rather than sitting as a one-off trick. Instant speed means you can respond to blocks and still feed the synergy.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

Format	Verdict
commander	legal
legacy	legal
modern	legal
pioneer	legal
standard	legal
vintage	legal
pauper	not legal
oathbreaker	legal

In Commander, Bulk Up punches well above its mana cost — one green mana for two +1/+1 counters and trample is the kind of rate that shows up in decks running Doubling Season and Hardened Scales, where the counters compound and the trample converts board stalls into lethal swings. In competitive 60-card formats like Modern and Pioneer, it competes in a crowded pool of pump spells, and the sorcery-speed limitation would hurt it — but Bulk Up is an instant, which keeps it relevant in tempo-oriented green aggro shells. Standard legality means it's accessible to players entering the game, though its ceiling there is narrower without the degenerate counter synergies Commander enables. Legacy and Vintage have more broken things to do, so Bulk Up won't see play there outside of fringe brews.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.35 bulk tier

At $0.35, Bulk Up sits firmly in bulk territory — easy to acquire as a four-of without budget concerns. Bulk rares at this price rarely spike unless a synergy deck breaks into a competitive meta, so treat it as a stable pickup rather than a speculative target.