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Ion Storm

Enchantment

{1}{R}, Remove a +1/+1 counter or a charge counter from a permanent you control: This enchantment deals 2 damage to any target.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{2}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
rare
Set
Fifth Dawn
Price
$0.31
EDHREC rank
#19632
Buy on TCGplayer
Ion Storm card art
Ion Storm converts every charge counter that lands on the battlefield into a free Lightning Bolt, making it a mana-neutral damage engine the moment your deck starts stacking counters. The two-mana enchantment asks almost nothing to include — if you're running Ganax, Astral Hunter or any counter-heavy shell, Ion Storm pulls its weight from turn two onward.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Ion Storm is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it's Commander where it actually earns a slot. Older formats have no shortage of faster, more reliable burn, and Ion Storm's trigger dependency makes it too slow and conditional for Legacy or Vintage where the game is often decided before charge counters accumulate. In Commander, the multiplayer life totals and the density of proliferate effects, energy payoffs, and counter-generating permanents give Ion Storm a real engine to attach itself to — it's a background threat that punishes opponents for letting your board develop.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.31 bulk tier

At $0.31, Ion Storm is deep bulk — you're paying commodity pricing for a card with genuine combo upside. That price is stable; it's not a hidden gem waiting to spike, but it also means there's no financial barrier to testing it in any deck that wants it.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.