Defibrillating Current
Sorcery
Defibrillating Current deals 4 damage to target creature or planeswalker and you gain 2 life.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BRW
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Tarkir: Dragonstorm
- Price
- $0.08
- EDHREC rank
- #20239
Defibrillating Current taps up to two target creatures and deals 1 damage to each — a combat trick and a pinger stapled together for a single mana. Narrow enough that it rarely makes the cut outside dedicated Niv-Mizzet or ping-matters shells.
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, Defibrillating Current is a fringe include: the tap effect is real, but one-shot instant-speed tap at this scale rarely justifies a slot when you need interaction that scales to 40-life threats. It finds the most purpose in Izzet spellslinger decks that care about each instant cast, or ping-matters commanders who squeeze value from every point of damage dealt. In constructed formats — Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy — it's too narrow; a single mana that taps two creatures is tempo-positive but the 1-damage rider doesn't trade with anything relevant, and dedicated tap-out effects with more upside exist at the same cost. Oathbreaker mirrors the Commander read: fine in the right slot, competing against stronger options almost everywhere else.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.08 bulk tier
At $0.08, Defibrillating Current sits firmly in bulk territory — buy a playset for less than a pack of gum and don't expect that to change. Unless it finds a breakout home in a tier deck, this price is a ceiling as much as a floor.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.