Horribly Awry
Instant
Devoid (This card has no color.)
Counter target creature spell with mana value 4 or less. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Battle for Zendikar
- Price
- $0.07
- EDHREC rank
- #21173
Horribly Awry counters a creature spell and exiles it — no graveyard trigger, no recursion, no negotiating — for two mana at instant speed. The restriction to nontoken creatures matters far less than the exile clause does, and two mana is exactly where you want interaction to sit.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Horribly Awry fills a specific niche: cheap, exile-stapled countermagic that answers the creatures most likely to end the game early, before they ever hit the battlefield. Legacy and Vintage have access to harder permission at the same cost, so Horribly Awry rarely competes there. Modern and Pioneer run it occasionally in tempo shells where exiling matters more than unconditional coverage, though it loses out to broader options in most lists. Commander is where it earns its slot cleanly — the nontoken restriction almost never bites in a format where the threats worth countering are almost always spells with mana costs.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.07 bulk tier
At $0.07, Horribly Awry is pure bulk — you're paying for cardboard and postage, not the card. That price is stable because supply is high and it's never been a competitive staple, but at this floor there's no reason not to own a copy.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.