Rust
Instant
Counter target activated ability from an artifact source. (Mana abilities can't be targeted.)
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Legends
- Price
- $0.58
- EDHREC rank
- #27212
Rust blankets every artifact on the board with a cumulative upkeep tax, threatening to strand opponents in a slow war of attrition without spending anything beyond the initial one green mana. It's a niche enchantment that punishes artifact-heavy tables hard and does almost nothing at tables without them.
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 |
In Commander, Rust earns a seat in stax and group-slug builds that want to make artifact mana sources like Sol Ring and Mana Vault progressively unaffordable — the cumulative upkeep snowballs fast in a four-player game where multiple opponents are each accruing age counters. Legacy and Vintage are the only non-rotating formats where it's legal, but neither wants it: those formats play artifacts to win quickly, not slowly, and Rust is far too slow to matter before the game ends. Pauper is where Rust had its most realistic competitive window, taxing the cheap artifact staples that show up in that format's midrange builds, though it remains fringe there too.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.58 bulk tier
At $0.58, Rust sits firmly in bulk territory and will stay there — it's a narrow enchantment with a small audience confined to dedicated stax players. Bulk is the right expectation: pick it up for pocket change if the effect fits your build, but there's no scarcity story here.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.