Spell Rupture
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 
, where X is the greatest power among creatures you control.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Gatecrash
- Price
- $0.12
- EDHREC rank
- #11417
Spell Rupture is a conditional counterspell that trades reliability for a creature-count payoff — in the right deck, your board guarantees the counter lands; in the wrong one, it's a dead card against an opponent with any creatures to spare. Haldan, Avid Arcanist // Pako, Arcane Retriever is the clearest illustration of the ceiling: Pako swings, you accumulate exiled cards, and by mid-game you're countering anything for free.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Haldan, Avid Arcanist // Pako, Arcane Retriever
Haldan, Avid Arcanist // Pako, Arcane Retriever runs Spell Rupture because Pako's attack triggers quickly inflate your creature count while Haldan turns exiled spells into card advantage, so by the time countermagic matters you reliably have more creatures than any opponent can match.
The Mindskinner
The Mindskinner mills opponents aggressively, shrinking their options while growing the board, and Spell Rupture slots in as free interaction once your creature count outpaces the table — the deck wants to tax and disrupt, and this fits that gameplan cleanly.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Spell Rupture earns its slot in creature-heavy builds where your board count consistently exceeds any single opponent's — token strategies, go-wide aggro, and flicker engines that maintain a wide presence make the condition trivially easy to meet. Outside Commander, the card sees negligible competitive play: Pauper has access to harder counters like Counterspell itself at the same cost, and Modern and Pioneer have no shortage of unconditional interaction that makes a dependent counter a liability. Legacy and Vintage never want this when Force of Will and Mana Drain exist. Spell Rupture is a Commander-specific role-player, full stop.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.12 bulk tier
At $0.12, Spell Rupture is deep bulk — you're buying a playset for the cost of a coffee at most local game stores. Bulk conditional counters don't appreciate, so there's no reason to stock up speculatively; just grab one copy when you need it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Haldan, Avid Arcanist // Pako, Arcane Retriever
- The Mindskinner
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.