Cleansing Ray
Sorcery
Choose one —
• Destroy target Vampire.
• Destroy target enchantment.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Rivals of Ixalan
- Price
- $0.05
- EDHREC rank
- #26245
Cleansing Ray is a two-mana instant that destroys an enchantment or deals 2 damage to a creature or planeswalker with a specific subtype — modal removal that earns its slot when your meta has both problems. The catch is that the damage mode only hits Vampires, Werewolves, or Clerics, which makes it a metagame call rather than a universal include.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Cleansing Ray earns consideration primarily as enchantment removal — two mana at instant speed is a reasonable rate, and the damage mode is a free upside if your table runs tribal Vampire, Werewolf, or Cleric decks. In Pauper, the enchantment mode is the draw; white enchantment hate at common is genuinely useful in a format with Bogles-style strategies. Modern and Legacy have better options at this slot, so Cleansing Ray rarely makes the cut there unless a very specific meta reason exists. Across formats, treat it as enchantment removal that occasionally has a second mode, not the other way around.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.05 bulk tier
At $0.05, Cleansing Ray is deep bulk — you'll pick it out of a commons box without a second thought. That price is stable because the card fills a narrow role, so there's no meaningful demand spike coming.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.