Maelstrom Colossus
Artifact Creature — Golem
Cascade (When you cast this spell, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card that costs less. You may cast it without paying its mana cost. Put the exiled cards on the bottom in a random order.)
- CMC
- 8
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Foundations Jumpstart
- Price
- $0.35
- EDHREC rank
- #4474
Maelstrom Colossus lands as an 8/8 trample that cascades into a free spell when it enters — that's a two-for-one threat on a body that demands an answer. The ceiling is high, but an eight-mana price tag means it lives or dies by how efficiently your deck can cheat it into play, which is exactly why Tannuk, Steadfast Second puts it to work.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Tannuk, Steadfast Second
Tannuk, Steadfast Second cascades repeatedly, and Maelstrom Colossus is one of the biggest cascade triggers available — when Tannuk flips it off the top, the free spell it generates can chain directly into the rest of your game plan.
Averna, the Chaos Bloom
Averna, the Chaos Bloom puts lands into play off every cascade trigger, and Maelstrom Colossus generates one of those triggers the moment it hits the battlefield — Averna turns that free spell into a land drop, accelerating the very engine that cast the Colossus.
Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty
Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty grants cascade to every spell with mana value six or greater, so Maelstrom Colossus arrives already primed to cascade and then cascades again the next time Imoti sees a big spell — the card is effectively a cascade doubler in that shell.
Radha, Heir to Keld
Radha, Heir to Keld generates combat mana that funnels naturally into large threats, and Maelstrom Colossus gives that mana a worthy destination — an 8/8 trample that pays back part of its own cost the turn it resolves.
Ruby, Daring Tracker
Ruby, Daring Tracker rewards running high-mana-value threats, and Maelstrom Colossus sits near the top of that curve while delivering a cascade trigger that can pull another payoff directly into play alongside it.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is the native habitat for Maelstrom Colossus — cascade decks built around Tannuk, Steadfast Second or Averna, the Chaos Bloom treat it as a staple, and the singleton format means you're never drawing multiples of an eight-drop. In Pauper it's technically legal, but no competitive Pauper shell wants an eight-mana creature with no protection, so that legality is academic. Legacy and Vintage permit it, and in truly degenerate Vintage shells there are faster ways to cheat large permanents into play, so Maelstrom Colossus doesn't show up there either. Oathbreaker offers a narrower window — cascade-oriented builds can slot it in, but the two-card commander constraint limits how reliably you assemble the engine.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.35 bulk tier
At $0.35, Maelstrom Colossus is firmly bulk — the price reflects its narrow demand outside dedicated cascade Commander builds. It's not a card that trends upward absent a reprint scare, so pick up copies whenever you need them without worrying about timing.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Tannuk, Steadfast Second
- Averna, the Chaos Bloom
- Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty
- Radha, Heir to Keld
- Ruby, Daring Tracker
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.