Lightning Elemental
Creature — Elemental
Haste (This creature can attack and 
as soon as it comes under your control.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Eighth Edition
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #25232
Lightning Elemental is a 4/1 haste for four mana — it hits once, dies to a stiff breeze, and leaves nothing behind. Strictly worse than almost every four-drop red has access to in any format; run it only if you're deep into Elemental tribal and have exhausted better options.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Lightning Elemental is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but legality isn't the same as playability. In Pauper it's the most competitive home — commons at common rate, and a 4/1 haste can close a race — but even there it's fringe. In Commander, Lightning Elemental is too fragile and too low-impact to justify a slot; a 4/1 with no ETB, no evasion, and no resilience gets outclassed by every format's available four-drops. Legacy and Vintage have no use for it whatsoever.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
No reliable pricing data is currently available for Lightning Elemental, though as a common that has been printed multiple times it almost certainly sits at bulk — expect to pick up a copy for under $0.25 at any local game store. At that price it's a fine throw-in, but the low cost doesn't make it a good card.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.