Undermine
Instant
Counter target spell. Its controller loses 3 life.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Invasion
- Price
- $9.29
- EDHREC rank
- #6380
Undermine counters a spell and drains the caster for 3 life — that life loss is the entire reason to run it over a cheaper counterspell, and in a format where life totals are a resource, it adds up fast. Sygg, River Cutthroat turns every resolved Undermine into a free card draw trigger, which is the cleanest argument for paying the three-mana price tag.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Sygg, River Cutthroat
Sygg, River Cutthroat's draw trigger fires whenever any opponent loses 3 or more life in a turn, so Undermine on an opponent's spell converts a reactive play into a free card — the counterspell replaces itself at no extra cost.
Gisa and Geralf
Gisa and Geralf operates in Dimir, where disruption buys time for the graveyard engine to assemble; Undermine fills the interaction slot while chipping away at a 40-life total that would otherwise make 3-damage spells feel irrelevant.
Y'shtola, Night's Blessed
Y'shtola, Night's Blessed rewards instant-speed play, and Undermine fits cleanly into the flash-heavy, hold-up-mana style that Y'shtola decks want — the life drain is a secondary bonus on top of the core disruption role.
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 Undermine earns its keep: 40-life totals make every point of incidental drain meaningful, and the ability to contest a key spell while pressuring life totals pulls double duty. In Legacy and Vintage, three mana is simply too slow for a format where Force of Will and Daze define the countermagic baseline, so Undermine sees essentially no competitive play there. Oathbreaker mirrors Commander's dynamics closely enough that the same logic applies — it's a real card in the format. Anywhere it's legal, the question is the same: is the 3-life drain worth the extra mana over a two-mana counter, and in casual 40-life metas the answer is usually yes.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Countersquall does 90% of the same job for a fraction of the price — it only hits noncreature spells, but in most metas that covers the threats you most need to answer, and the 2-life drain still triggers Sygg, River Cutthroat. If you want creature coverage too, Dissolve costs about as much as Countersquall and replaces itself with a scry, trading the drain effect for card selection — a reasonable swap if your deck values consistency over chip damage.
Price Context
Current price
$9.29 mid tier
At $9.29, Undermine sits in mid-tier pricing — noticeable but not a barrier for most Commander budgets. Its price is driven largely by casual demand and limited reprint history rather than competitive play, so it's a stable buy rather than a volatile one.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.