Essence Vortex
Instant
Destroy target creature unless its controller pays life equal to its toughness. A creature destroyed this way can't be regenerated.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Ice Age
- Price
- $0.30
- EDHREC rank
- #25314
Essence Vortex destroys a creature at instant speed and the opponent loses life equal to that creature's toughness — meaningful reach in a format full of big-toughness blockers. The cost is two mana plus paying life yourself, which is real but rarely prohibitive.
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 |
Essence Vortex is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, and sees essentially no competitive play in any of them. In Commander, the life payment and the sorcery-adjacent ceiling — it's instant, which is the floor — keep it off most lists when Swords to Plowshares, Deadly Rollick, and a dozen other options exist at the same or lower cost. Legacy and Vintage have even less patience for conditional removal at two mana. Oathbreaker is the one context where the life-drain rider occasionally matters as incidental pressure, but even there Essence Vortex rarely makes the cut.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.30 bulk tier
At $0.30, Essence Vortex is deep bulk — you'll find copies in any dollar-bin without hunting. The price won't move; demand is too low and supply too abundant for it to hold above floor.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.