Dash Hopes
Instant
When you cast this spell, any player may pay 5 life. If a player does, counter Dash Hopes.
Counter target spell.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $0.62
- EDHREC rank
- #10638
Dash Hopes counters a spell — unless your opponent pays 5 life, in which case it does nothing. That opponent-choice clause is the whole problem: it counters exactly what your opponent can afford to let through, and stops nothing that actually threatens them.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Maralen of the Mornsong
Maralen of the Mornsong locks opponents out of drawing cards and drains 3 life each upkeep, so by the time a threat hits the stack, opponents are already too low to pay 5 — making Dash Hopes a genuine hard counter in that shell rather than a coin flip.
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, Dash Hopes is nearly unplayable outside of dedicated life-drain strategies like Maralen of the Mornsong, where opponents are too depleted to pay the 5-life rider. In a four-player game at 40 life, the baseline assumption is that someone will always pay — you're not countering anything that matters. Legacy and Vintage have Force of Will, Daze, and Mana Drain; Dash Hopes doesn't compete. Pauper is the one format where its budget counterspell role occasionally appears in aggressive black shells trying to keep opponents low, but even there it's fringe.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.62 bulk tier
At $0.62, Dash Hopes is firmly bulk — easy to acquire and easy to cut. Demand is too narrow for the price to move meaningfully in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.