Swelter
Sorcery
Swelter deals 2 damage to each of two target creatures.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $0.08
- EDHREC rank
- #30842
Swelter deals 3 damage to each creature your opponents control — a near-full board wipe for token decks and X/3-or-smaller creatures — then cycles away if the board state doesn't need it. Four mana for a conditional wrath is the cost, and that cost is worth it in any red deck that wants insurance it'll never sit dead in hand.
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 |
Commander is where Swelter earns its slot: token swarms are everywhere, cycling makes it never a dead draw, and four mana is easy to hit by turn three in most red builds. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but irrelevant — faster and more powerful sweepers exist, and no competitive deck wants a four-mana sorcery with a conditional ceiling. Oathbreaker follows the same logic as Commander on a smaller scale, where Swelter's cycling clause keeps it from clogging your hand in a 20-life format that ends quickly.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.08 bulk tier
At $0.08, Swelter is deep bulk — you'll find copies in any common box or pick it up as throw-in. That price is stable by definition; there's no floor left to fall through, and a reprint can only keep it there.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.