Pulse of the Forge
Instant
Pulse of the Forge deals 4 damage to target player or planeswalker. Then if that player or that planeswalker's controller has more life than you, return Pulse of the Forge to its owner's hand.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Darksteel
- Price
- $0.42
- EDHREC rank
- #21614
Pulse of the Forge deals 4 damage to a player for two mana, and bounces back to your hand whenever that player has more life than you — effectively becoming a repeatable burn spell in any game where you're behind on life. Pair it with Hostility and every recurrence triggers a fresh wave of 3/1 tokens, turning a simple spell loop into a board-flooding engine.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Pulse of the Forge is at its most dangerous: multiplayer games routinely produce life-total disparities, which means the bounce condition triggers constantly, letting you rebuy it turn after turn against any opponent running ahead of you. Legacy and Vintage have faster clocks and tighter interaction, so the conditional recursion feels unreliable against decks that win before life gaps widen. Modern is theoretically legal but practically irrelevant — burn strategies there want unconditional reach, and Pulse of the Forge's bounce clause doesn't offset that limitation when opponents can race you to zero. Commander is the only format where the card is genuinely strong.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
HostilityPulse of the ForgeThermopod
Infinite creature tokens with haste; Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite red mana; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite storm count
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
HostilityPulse of the ForgePhyrexian Altar
Infinite colored mana; Infinite creature tokens with haste; Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite storm count
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.42 bulk tier
At $0.42, Pulse of the Forge sits firmly in bulk territory — easy to pick up without a second thought. Demand is narrow enough that the price is unlikely to spike unless a prominent Hostility or spellslinger commander list pushes it into the spotlight.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.