Contaminated Aquifer
Land — Island Swamp
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This land enters tapped.
- CMC
- 0
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Final Fantasy Commander
- Price
- $0.28
- EDHREC rank
- #2115
Contaminated Aquifer enters tapped, but it replaces itself with a Surveil 1 trigger the moment it hits — that's a land drop that also filters your draw, which is a real rate for a common. Y'shtola, Night's Blessed decks run it because every scry and surveil effect feeds her ability, making this one of the few tap-lands that earns its slot.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Y'shtola, Night's Blessed
Y'shtola, Night's Blessed rewards every surveil trigger, and Contaminated Aquifer turns a routine land drop into engine fuel — 24% of Y'shtola decks run it for exactly that reason.
Teval, the Balanced Scale
Teval, the Balanced Scale cares about cards entering the graveyard and library manipulation, so the surveil on Contaminated Aquifer does double duty: it smooths draws while stocking the graveyard Teval wants to exploit.
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, Contaminated Aquifer is a legitimate include in any blue deck that cares about surveil, scry, or graveyard setup — the tap penalty matters less at a slower table, and the free Surveil 1 compounds over a long game. In Pauper, it competes in tempo-sensitive blue shells where entering tapped is a genuine cost, so it earns a slot only if the self-mill or filtering is part of the plan. In Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, and Vintage, Contaminated Aquifer is outclassed by fetches and dual lands — the surveil upside doesn't close the gap when the format punishes tapped lands. It's a Commander and Pauper card first.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.28 bulk tier
At $0.28, Contaminated Aquifer sits firmly in bulk territory, which is appropriate for a common with a narrow but real niche. Bulk commons rarely move on price, so pick up copies freely — there's no reason to chase foils unless the deck demands it.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.