Piercing Exhale
Instant
As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may behold a Dragon. (You may choose a Dragon you control or reveal a Dragon card from your hand.)
Target creature you control deals damage equal to its power to target creature or planeswalker. If a Dragon was beheld, surveil 2.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Tarkir: Dragonstorm
- Price
- $0.10
- EDHREC rank
- #14150
Piercing Exhale exiles a nonland permanent — no death triggers, no graveyard recursion, just gone — at instant speed for two mana with an optional two-life rider that lets you target any permanent type. Clean, unconditional exile removal at this cost is good, and the flexibility between creatures and noncreature permanents makes it genuinely useful.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Piercing Exhale competes in a crowded field of two-mana instant-speed exile effects, and the life payment to hit artifacts, enchantments, or planeswalkers is a real ask when you're already at 40 life — but the flexibility is the point. In Pauper, unconditional exile at common is a meaningful rate and the format's creature-heavy metagame means the default mode covers most threats. In Modern and Pioneer, two mana sorcery-speed is the bar for removal and Piercing Exhale clears it only because of the instant speed; even so, more efficient options crowd it out of most lists. Legacy and Vintage have removal that does more for the same or less, so Piercing Exhale doesn't register there.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.10 bulk tier
At $0.10, Piercing Exhale is pure bulk — you're essentially getting it for free in a collection trade or as a throw-in. Bulk commons with genuine flexibility tend to hold this floor indefinitely, so there's no meaningful price risk in picking up copies.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.