Suspicious Detonation
Sorcery
This spell costs 
less to cast if you've sacrificed an artifact this turn.
This spell can't be countered. (This includes by the ward ability.)
Suspicious Detonation deals 4 damage to target creature.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Murders at Karlov Manor
- Price
- $0.06
- EDHREC rank
- #22434
Suspicious Detonation deals 4 damage to target creature and puts a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control — solid damage threshold, reasonable upside, but five mana at sorcery speed is a steep ask when comparable removal costs two or three. It's a role-player in counter-synergy shells, not a staple.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Suspicious Detonation earns a slot only in decks that actively want the +1/+1 counter — think Halana and Alena, Partners or Hamza, Guardian of Arashin, where the counter isn't incidental but part of the engine. Everywhere else, five mana at sorcery speed is removal that loses to a 5-toughness blocker and telegraphs itself. In competitive 60-card formats — Modern, Pioneer, Legacy — it doesn't register; efficient removal in those formats costs one or two mana and doesn't need a creature in play to maximize. Pauper is the one format where the counter synergy could matter on a budget, but even there the mana cost is a liability in a tempo-sensitive environment.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.06 bulk tier
At $0.06, Suspicious Detonation is deep bulk — the kind of card you pick up as a throw-in without thinking. That price is stable by definition; there's no demand pressure that would push it higher unless a counter-synergy commander spikes in popularity.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.