Tectonic Rift
Sorcery
Destroy target land. Creatures without flying can't block this turn.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Magic 2012
- Price
- $0.16
- EDHREC rank
- #18515
Tectonic Rift destroys a land and makes all creatures unable to block this turn — two effects stapled together for four mana at sorcery speed. It's a niche finisher in aggressive red decks, not a general-purpose spell.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Tectonic Rift is a Commander card almost exclusively — the combination of land destruction and evasion lines up with go-wide red decks that need one final, unblockable alpha strike. In Pauper it's legal but competes with better evasion and removal options at the same cost. Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, and Vintage have no realistic slot for it; those formats demand much higher efficiency than a sorcery-speed four-mana hybrid effect can provide.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.16 bulk tier
At $0.16, Tectonic Rift is deep bulk — easy to pick up as a throw-in or out of a common box. Bulk commons at this price point don't appreciate unless a combo or commander breakout pushes demand, and nothing on the horizon suggests that's coming for this one.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.