Smelted Chargebug

Artifact Creature — Insect

Menace
When this creature enters, you get {E}{E} (two energy counters).
Whenever this creature attacks, you may pay {E}. If you do, another target attacking creature gets +1/+0 and gains menace until end of turn.

CMC
2
Mana cost
{1}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
common
Set
Modern Horizons 3
Price
$0.16
EDHREC rank
#17729
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Smelted Chargebug card art
Smelted Chargebug enters the battlefield and immediately reduces the energy cost of your next ability by two, effectively paying for itself in any shell that spends energy repeatedly. The floor is a cheap body that replaces the mana you spent to cast it; the ceiling is a recurring discount engine if you can blink or recur it.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander
legacy
modern
pioneer
standard
vintage
pauper
oathbreaker

In Commander, Smelted Chargebug slots into any energy-matters deck as an affordable enabler — the format's slower clock means its one-time cost reduction compounds across a long game, especially alongside commanders that generate and spend energy each turn. In Pauper, energy-based strategies are niche but real, and a commons-legal piece that refunds its own activation cost has genuine utility without demanding deck contortion. Legacy and Vintage are both legal but irrelevant here — Smelted Chargebug isn't touching those formats in any competitive configuration. Oathbreaker mirrors Commander's logic: if your planeswalker signature spell or activated ability runs on energy, this is a cheap, repeatable setup piece worth a slot.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.16 bulk tier

At $0.16, Smelted Chargebug is bulk, and it's priced exactly like what it is — a role-player with a narrow home rather than a format staple. Pick up copies freely; there's no meaningful financial risk, and energy strategies occasionally spike interest when new support enters Standard-adjacent formats.

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Mentioned

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    Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.