Kinetic Ooze
Creature — Ooze
This creature enters with X +1/+1 counters on it.
When this creature enters, destroy up to one target artifact or enchantment with mana value X or less. If X is 5 or more, you draw a card. If X is 10 or more, double the number of +1/+1 counters on any number of other target creatures.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Secrets of Strixhaven Commander
- Price
- $0.39
- EDHREC rank
- #11610
Kinetic Ooze enters as an X/X and immediately untaps that many permanents — the payoff lands the same turn you cast it. In Zimone, Infinite Analyst shells, that untap trigger is the engine, not a bonus, which is why this card slots into 85% of those decks.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Zimone, Infinite Analyst
Zimone, Infinite Analyst needs mass untap to keep looping her draw-and-bounce ability, and Kinetic Ooze delivers untaps scaled to however much mana you're already pouring in — the bigger the spell, the bigger the reset.
Primo, the Unbounded
Primo, the Unbounded cares about creatures entering and leaving, and Kinetic Ooze's ETB untap refuels the mana needed to immediately exploit that trigger again.
Magus Lucea Kane
Magus Lucea Kane copies spells with X in their cost, so a copied Kinetic Ooze means two ETBs and a doubled untap count — free mana on top of a board presence.
Rosheen, Roaring Prophet
Rosheen, Roaring Prophet ramps into oversized X spells, and Kinetic Ooze converts that mana investment directly into a large body plus enough untaps to threaten another big play the same turn.
Zaxara, the Exemplary
Zaxara, the Exemplary generates a Hydra token off every X spell, so Kinetic Ooze adds a second creature to the board while also untapping lands to chain into the next X spell.
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 |
Kinetic Ooze is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but its home is squarely Commander — the untap effect scales with late-game mana pools that simply don't exist in faster formats. In Legacy and Vintage, the card is too slow and too conditional; competitive decks in those formats have no interest in a creature that costs significant mana to generate an untap count worth caring about. Commander is where the math works: a ten-mana Kinetic Ooze untapping ten permanents in an X-spell deck is a game-winning swing, not a tempo play. In Oathbreaker the same logic applies at a smaller scale, and it fits any signature spell that wants mana open post-cast.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.39 bulk tier
At $0.39, Kinetic Ooze is firmly bulk, which makes it an easy include — you're not paying a premium for a card that sees near-universal play in its target commanders. That price is stable; this is a build-around in specific shells, not a card with crossover demand that could push it higher.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.