Stress Dream
Instant
Stress Dream deals 5 damage to up to one target creature. Look at the top two cards of your library. Put one of those cards into your hand and the other on the bottom of your library.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- RU
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Secrets of Strixhaven
- Price
- $0.09
- EDHREC rank
- #22557
Stress Dream puts two +1/+1 counters on target creature and draws you a card — all for two mana at instant speed. In any deck that cares about spell count or counter stacking, that rate is clean enough to run, and Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot turns the instant typing into free extra value on top.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot
Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot triggers off noncombat damage spells and rewards stacking instants and sorceries, so Stress Dream does double duty — growing a threat and replacing itself while padding the spell count Lilah wants to see.
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, Stress Dream fills a role most blue-black decks want anyway: cheap instant-speed card draw stapled to a body buff, which means it's never a dead card. Outside Commander, the competition gets brutal fast — Modern and Pioneer have Opt, Consider, and Sleight of Hand at one mana with no strings attached, and Stress Dream's counter rider rarely makes up the difference. Legacy and Vintage don't need a two-mana cantrip under any circumstances. Standard is the one place Stress Dream can carve space if your deck is actively building around +1/+1 counters, but even there it's a role-player rather than a staple.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.09 bulk tier
At $0.09, Stress Dream is pure bulk — buy a playset without thinking about it. Bulk commons with narrow applications tend to stay at this floor indefinitely, so there's no urgency either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.