Energy Vortex
Enchantment
As this enchantment enters, choose an opponent.
At the beginning of your upkeep, remove all vortex counters from this enchantment.
At the beginning of the chosen player's upkeep, this enchantment deals 3 damage to that player unless they pay 
for each vortex counter on this enchantment.
: Put X vortex counters on this enchantment. Activate only during your upkeep.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Mirage
- Price
- $0.77
- EDHREC rank
- #27528
Energy Vortex locks one player out of their upkeep's damage trigger — but only if you pay three mana at the start of every one of your upkeeps to redirect it, which means the enchantment is taxing you as much as it's taxing them. It's a soft threat, not a hard answer, and in a four-player pod that's rarely a trade worth making.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Energy Vortex is a political tool at best — you point it at the archenemy across the table and hope they can't pay three life every upkeep, but the moment they find removal or you can't keep up the mana tax yourself, the enchantment does nothing. Legacy and Vintage are the only other formats where it's legal, and in either of those the pace of the game makes a do-nothing enchantment that requires ongoing maintenance utterly unplayable. Energy Vortex never found a home in any competitive context, and the rise of faster, more permanent forms of pressure hasn't made the case for it any stronger.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.77 bulk tier
At $0.77, Energy Vortex sits in bulk rare territory, which is exactly where the market values it. Don't expect that to move — there's no competitive demand and no Commander archetype actively seeking it out.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.