Surge of Salvation
Instant
You and permanents you control gain hexproof until end of turn. Prevent all damage that black and/or red sources would deal to creatures you control this turn.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- March of the Machine
- Price
- $0.58
- EDHREC rank
- #2795
Surge of Salvation blankets your entire board in protection from opponents' spells and abilities for one white mana at instant speed — it's one of the most efficient combat and stack tricks white has ever gotten. Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice tutors it into play as a bonus when you cast any aura, which makes it nearly free to include in any white aura strategy.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice
Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice fetches Surge of Salvation directly from your library the moment you cast any aura, meaning it costs you nothing beyond a deck slot — and once in hand, one white mana protects your entire board from the counterattack you just invited.
Otharri, Suns' Glory
Otharri, Suns' Glory builds a wide board of Experience-counter tokens that make for obvious mass-removal targets; Surge of Salvation covers all of them simultaneously for one mana, letting Otharri swing through blockers or dodge a wrath and untap with the full army intact.
Elesh Norn
Elesh Norn runs a go-wide Phyrexian engine where losing creatures in bulk is catastrophic; Surge of Salvation gives the deck an instant-speed panic button that protects everything on board at a cost low enough to hold up while still advancing the board on your own turn.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Surge of Salvation punches well above its mana cost — protecting every permanent and player on your side from all opponents simultaneously is a line of text you don't often see outside of hexproof effects that require six mana. In Modern and Pioneer, the effect is narrower: targeted protection spells like Teferi's Protection or Boros Charm see more play because those formats punish you for holding up one white mana without a guaranteed payoff. Legacy and Vintage have enough fast-mana redundancy that white decks rarely need this effect at all. Commander is unambiguously the right home for Surge of Salvation, specifically in white decks that go wide or rely on an enchanted commander to win.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.58 bulk tier
At $0.58, Surge of Salvation sits firmly in bulk territory despite being a legitimately powerful Commander card. It's a safe pickup — broad utility at one mana rarely gets cheaper, and there's no obvious reprint pressure that would send the price lower.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.