Rabid Gnaw
Instant
Target creature you control gets +1/+0 until end of turn. Then it deals damage equal to its power to target creature you don't control.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Bloomburrow
- Price
- $0.21
- EDHREC rank
- #7903
Rabid Gnaw turns any creature with a +1/+1 counter into a ping machine — deal damage equal to its power to any target, for one mana, at instant speed. In counter-heavy builds, particularly around Mabel, Heir to Cragflame, that's a repeatable, scalable damage source that doubles as removal.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Mabel, Heir to Cragflame
Mabel, Heir to Cragflame generates +1/+1 counters naturally and wants to convert creature growth into direct pressure, making Rabid Gnaw a clean fit that lets a pumped creature deal its power as damage before it even swings.
Feather, the Redeemed
Feather, the Redeemed returns instants from the graveyard to hand at end of turn, so Rabid Gnaw loops back every turn cycle — one counter-bearing creature becomes a recurring, targeted damage source for a single red mana.
Zada, Hedron Grinder
Cast Rabid Gnaw targeting Zada, Hedron Grinder, and every other creature you control gets a copy — in a token-wide board, that's a wave of pings that can clear blockers or close a game outright.
Bria, Riptide Rogue
Bria, Riptide Rogue cares about cheap instants and sorceries that target creatures, and Rabid Gnaw slots into that suite while providing a relevant on-board payoff whenever a creature has grown.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Rabid Gnaw earns its slot narrowly — it's powerful in dedicated counter-synergy or spell-recursion shells and nearly unplayable outside them. The card is legal in every major 60-card format, but it sees no meaningful play there; single-target damage spells at this rate don't compete in Legacy, Modern, or Pioneer, where efficiency bars are much higher. Standard is technically an option, but the same logic applies — situational +1/+1 counter payoffs rarely clear the bar in a format with better options at every slot. Oathbreaker can approximate the Commander use case if your planeswalker and signature spell create the right counter synergy.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.21 bulk tier
At $0.21, Rabid Gnaw sits firmly in bulk territory — the kind of card you grab as a throw-in without thinking twice. Bulk rares and commons rarely appreciate unless a combo or new commander pushes them into demand, so treat this as a pure gameplay pickup, not a hold.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.