Harsh Annotation
Instant
Destroy target creature. Its controller creates a 1/1 white and black Inkling creature token with flying.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Secrets of Strixhaven
- Price
- $0.18
- EDHREC rank
- #20860
Harsh Annotation kills a creature and puts a +1/+1 counter on each other creature you control — two effects on one card at instant speed for two mana. In Kambal, Profiteering Mayor builds that want bodies and counters simultaneously, this does exactly what you need without wasting a slot on a plain removal spell.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Kambal, Profiteering Mayor
Kambal, Profiteering Mayor triggers off spells your opponents cast, but the deck still needs ways to clear blockers while growing its own board — Harsh Annotation handles both at once, letting you remove a threat and push Kambal's counter-distribution engine forward on the same turn.
Felisa, Fang of Silverquill
Felisa, Fang of Silverquill converts +1/+1 counters on dying creatures into 2/1 Inkling tokens, so every creature in the deck wants to accumulate counters before it dies — Harsh Annotation both removes an opposing threat and loads up a creature for a future Felisa trigger.
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 |
Harsh Annotation is legal across Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Standard, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but its home is Commander. In 60-card formats the competition at two mana is fierce — Go for the Throat and Infernal Grasp cost the same and hit more targets without the counter clause mattering in a vacuum. In Commander the math shifts: redundancy and board-wide synergy matter more than raw efficiency, and a removal spell that also advances a +1/+1 counter or token subtheme earns its slot in a way it simply can't in a 1v1 format.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.18 bulk tier
At $0.18, Harsh Annotation sits firmly in bulk territory — easy to pick up as a throw-in or grab a playset for under a dollar. Bulk commons and uncommons with narrow synergy profiles rarely climb in price, so treat it as a cheap role-player you run in the right deck, not a long-term hold.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.