Surge of Strength
Instant
As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard a red or green card.
Target creature gains trample and gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is that creature's mana value.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- GR
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Hobby Japan Promos
- Price
- $34.99
- EDHREC rank
- #28516
Surge of Strength pumps a creature and gives it trample for the turn — the relevant detail is that it costs no mana if you discard a red or green card, making it a free combat trick that turns a lethal block into a lethal swing. Run it when you need to close games through chump blockers without tapping out.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Surge of Strength earns its slot in stompy and Voltron strategies that already want to be holding cards in hand — discarding to fuel the zero-cost mode barely hurts when your commander is the win condition. Legacy and Vintage allow it, but free spells in those formats compete with a deep pool of zero-mana interaction, and a sorcery-speed pump rarely makes the cut. Oathbreaker mirrors the Commander case: if your planeswalker or signature spell generates card advantage, the discard cost vanishes.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Berserk does most of the same work at a lower mana cost and instant speed, but it's far more expensive and can kill your own creature if you mistime it — Surge of Strength is the cleaner play for anyone not already deep in Legacy staples. Phytoburst and Titanic Growth are near-zero cost alternatives that skip the trample entirely; you lose the evasion but keep your hand intact.
Price Context
Current price
$34.99 premium tier
At $34.99, Surge of Strength sits firmly in premium territory for a combat trick — you're paying for the zero-mana ceiling, which is genuinely narrow outside dedicated combo or Voltron shells. It holds value as long as those strategies remain popular, but it's hard to justify at this price unless the free-cast mode is central to your game plan.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.