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Chain of Plasma

Instant

Chain of Plasma deals 3 damage to any target. Then that player or that permanent's controller may discard a card. If the player does, they may copy this spell and may choose a new target for that copy.

CMC
2
Mana cost
{1}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Onslaught
Price
$0.17
EDHREC rank
#19583
Buy on TCGplayer
Chain of Plasma card art
Chain of Plasma deals 3 damage to any target for two mana — clean and efficient — but the opponent gets to copy it by discarding a card, which means any removal spell you fire can bounce back at your own creatures or planeswalkers. In Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot decks, that symmetry stops mattering the moment you can guarantee the copy hits something with exactly 2 toughness and triggers a lethal cascade.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern not legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Chain of Plasma is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, and it sees essentially no competitive play in Legacy or Vintage — two mana for 3 damage doesn't clear the bar when those formats have Lightning Bolt. Commander is where Chain of Plasma finds its niche: the copy clause is largely irrelevant in a format where most opponents would rather take 3 than spend a card, and in the right shell it becomes a combo enabler rather than just a burn spell. Oathbreaker follows the same logic as Commander — low-power format, low risk, and the occasional degenerate combo deck will pick it up for the same reasons.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.17 bulk tier

At $0.17, Chain of Plasma is deep bulk — the kind of card you pull from a box rather than order. That price is stable; it has no broad demand outside niche combo decks, so there's no pressure pushing it up.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.