Tidal Control
Enchantment
Cumulative upkeep 
(At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
Pay 2 life or : Counter target red or green spell. Any player may activate this ability.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Alliances
- Price
- $1.00
- EDHREC rank
- #22143
Tidal Control locks opponents out of their upkeep triggers and forces them to pay two life or sacrifice a permanent every turn — a repeating soft-stax effect stapled to an enchantment that's far harder to answer than a Mindslaver. The cost is real: three blue and an ongoing two-mana activation means it belongs in dedicated control or stax shells, not as a splash.
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 Tidal Control earns its keep — multiplayer tables mean three opponents bleeding life or sacrificing permanents every rotation, and enchantment-based effects survive board wipes that would kill creatures doing the same job. Legacy and Vintage have the card pool to support it but faster, more consistent ways to lock the game that don't ask for three blue pips, so Tidal Control rarely makes those lists. Oathbreaker is legal and the compressed game length works against a slow-build enchantment, making Commander the clear home.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.00 cheap tier
At $1.00, Tidal Control sits firmly in the bulk-rare tier — cheap to acquire and likely to stay there given its narrow application and low reprint demand. It holds value for what it does in the right shell, but don't expect price movement in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.