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Tidal Barracuda

Creature — Fish

Any player may cast spells as though they had flash.
Your opponents can't cast spells during your turn.

CMC
4
Mana cost
{3}{U}
Color identity
U
Rarity
rare
Set
Secret Lair Drop
Price
—
EDHREC rank
#4285
Buy on TCGplayer
Tidal Barracuda card art
Tidal Barracuda lets every player cast spells at instant speed — a symmetrical effect that breaks hard in your favor the moment your commander already wants opponents drawing cards or acting on your turn. Kwain, Itinerant Meddler and Fire Lord Azula both exploit that symmetry ruthlessly, turning a group-hug effect into a one-sided engine.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Kwain, Itinerant Meddler

Kwain, Itinerant Meddler

21.9% of decks · synergy 0.21

Kwain, Itinerant Meddler's activated ability already invites everyone to draw on your turn, and Tidal Barracuda means opponents can spend those cards immediately — which sounds dangerous until you realize Kwain decks are built to profit from the chaos that generates.

02
Phelddagrif

Phelddagrif

18.9% of decks · synergy 0.18

Phelddagrif floods the table with hippo tokens and extra cards, and Tidal Barracuda lets opponents act on all those gifts at any point — which a Phelddagrif deck happily absorbs while converting goodwill into a commanding board state.

03
Otrimi, the Ever-Playful

Otrimi, the Ever-Playful

17.2% of decks · synergy 0.16

Otrimi, the Ever-Playful is a mutate commander that wants to move at its own pace, and Tidal Barracuda gives the whole stack flash — letting you mutate at instant speed to ambush combat math or respond to removal before it resolves.

04
Kami of the Crescent Moon

Kami of the Crescent Moon

15.6% of decks · synergy 0.14

Kami of the Crescent Moon is already handing opponents cards every upkeep, so Tidal Barracuda simply ensures those cards translate into action on your turn rather than sitting in hand waiting for sorcery windows.

05
Fire Lord Azula

Fire Lord Azula

12.8% of decks · synergy 0.12

Fire Lord Azula punishes opponents for casting spells on their own turns, so pairing her with Tidal Barracuda nudges the table to spend their mana on your turn instead — feeding her triggers exactly when you want them.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern not legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Tidal Barracuda lives; the symmetrical flash-granting effect is nearly meaningless in one-on-one formats and scales directly with the number of opponents it can manipulate. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but sees no meaningful play — a five-mana 3/4 with a group effect is never what those formats are looking for. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander multiplayer option where Tidal Barracuda could theoretically slot in, again only in decks that convert the table-wide benefit into a personal advantage. For practical purposes, treat this as a Commander-only card.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

unknown tier

Pricing data for Tidal Barracuda isn't currently available through this page, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the most accurate current number. Given its niche but consistent demand in group-hug and flash-matters Commander shells, it tends to hold a modest non-zero price rather than sitting in bulk.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.