Heat Wave
Enchantment
Cumulative upkeep 
(At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
Blue creatures can't block creatures you control.
Nonblue creatures can't block creatures you control unless their controller pays 1 life for each blocking creature they control.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Visions
- Price
- $0.24
- EDHREC rank
- #26827
Heat Wave shuts off green and white creatures' ability to block, effectively blanking most defensive creatures on the board for a single red mana each turn. The upkeep tax is real, but in any red deck that wants to push damage through, this is a one-sided Fog that lasts until someone answers it.
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 |
Commander is where Heat Wave has the most plausible home — red aggro and combat-focused decks like Najeela, the Blade-Blossom or Isshin, Two Heavens as One want exactly this kind of persistent evasion against the format's most common creature colors. The cumulative upkeep means it won't survive a long game, but it doesn't need to; a few unblocked swings in the midgame can close out a player. In Legacy and Vintage, Heat Wave is legal but competes in formats where green and white are powerful enough that this could theoretically matter, yet the card is too slow and too narrow to see serious play. Outside of Commander, this card doesn't find a home.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.24 bulk tier
At $0.24, Heat Wave is firmly bulk — the kind of card you pull from a box rather than buy individually. Price stability is likely, since casual and Commander demand is low enough that it won't spike, but niche enough that it probably won't fall further either.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.