Hydrosurge
Instant
Target creature gets -5/-0 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Magic 2013
- Price
- $0.06
- EDHREC rank
- #25881
Hydrosurge costs one blue mana to give a creature -5/-0 until end of turn — a combat trick that trades a tempo hit for almost nothing permanent. At sorcery speed it would be marginal; at instant speed it still rarely makes the cut outside of limited.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Hydrosurge is legal across Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but format legality and format relevance are different things. In Commander, a -5/-0 pump on one creature for one turn doesn't scale against a table of three opponents and boards full of high-power threats. Pauper is the most plausible home — tempo-oriented blue decks can use Hydrosurge to push through blockers or survive an alpha strike — but even there it sits below the threshold of reliable inclusions. Everywhere else, the effect simply doesn't justify a slot.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.06 bulk tier
At $0.06, Hydrosurge is deep bulk — the kind of card that costs more to ship than to buy. That price won't move; there's no meaningful demand to drive it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.