Gut Shot
Instant
(
can be paid with either 
or 2 life.)
Gut Shot deals 1 damage to any target.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Modern Masters 2015
- Price
- $4.89
- EDHREC rank
- #2333
Gut Shot deals 1 damage to any target for zero mana — the cost is life, not cards or tempo. Outside of Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot and similar ping-matters commanders, that ceiling of 1 damage makes it a niche include rather than a universal staple.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot
Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot triggers on dealing exactly 1 damage, so Gut Shot is a free spell that immediately fires the commander's ability — the zero mana cost means you can chain multiple triggers in a single turn without spending a land drop or a card's worth of mana.
Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph
Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph converts any 1-damage source into 3 damage total, turning Gut Shot's floor into a free 3-damage removal spell that costs only 2 life and zero mana.
Krark, the Thumbless // Sakashima of a Thousand Faces
Krark, the Thumbless flips a coin on every instant or sorcery cast, and Gut Shot's zero mana cost means you're rolling the dice for free — in a Krark, the Thumbless // Sakashima of a Thousand Faces storm shell, free spells are how you build storm count without burning through your land resources.
Ral, Monsoon Mage
Ral, Monsoon Mage cares about casting instants and sorceries, and Gut Shot is a zero-mana trigger that advances his flip condition without spending any resources beyond 2 life.
Urabrask
Urabrask taxes opponents for casting spells and rewards you for doing the same, so Gut Shot slots in as a free spell that generates value — pinging a mana dork or a Thopter token while triggering any cast-matters ability at zero mana cost.
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, Gut Shot earns its slot only in decks that explicitly care about the number of spells cast, 1-damage triggers, or zero-mana interactions — outside those shells, 1 damage spread across 120 life totals is irrelevant. In Legacy and Vintage, it sees fringe sideboard play as a way to snipe mana elves or Delver of Secrets on turn one without tapping out, where the zero mana cost is genuinely exploitable. Pauper is where Gut Shot occasionally shows real teeth — at common, it's accessible removal in a format where 1-toughness creatures and storm-count padding both matter. Modern has largely moved past it as a mainboard option, though dedicated combo shells still find uses for free spells with any effect.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$4.89 cheap tier
At $4.89, Gut Shot sits at the high end of what you'd expect for a narrow, single-pip-less uncommon — the price is driven almost entirely by Legacy and Pauper demand rather than Commander volume. It's not a card that's likely to get significantly cheaper given its eternal-format utility, but it's also not a card you're buying unless your deck specifically wants it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot
- Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph
- Krark, the Thumbless // Sakashima of a Thousand Faces
- Ral, Monsoon Mage
- Urabrask
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.