Volt Charge
Instant
Volt Charge deals 3 damage to any target. Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Phyrexia: All Will Be One
- Price
- $0.27
- EDHREC rank
- #7358
Volt Charge deals 3 damage and proliferates for three mana — that's a removal spell and a planeswalker tick stapled together. In any deck that cares about counters, Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh included, the proliferate clause upgrades this from filler to engine piece.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh flips by accumulating loyalty counters, and Volt Charge accelerates that clock while clearing a blocker — the proliferate directly advances the transformation condition.
The Scorpion God
The Scorpion God's whole game is stacking -1/-1 counters, and Volt Charge both adds one directly and proliferates the rest across every creature already marked — that translates to cards drawn off The Scorpion God's trigger almost every time.
Otharri, Suns' Glory
Otharri, Suns' Glory generates experience counters to power token production, and Volt Charge's proliferate pushes that experience count higher while doubling as a spot removal spell.
Urabrask
Urabrask runs on oil counters, and Volt Charge proliferates them onto every permanent that already has one — it's reach and resource acceleration in the same three-mana instant.
Ashling the Pilgrim
Ashling the Pilgrim grows by paying mana to add +1/+1 counters, and Volt Charge lets you proliferate that investment for free on top of dealing damage — it compresses two turns of setup into one.
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 |
In Commander, Volt Charge earns its slot wherever proliferate matters — planeswalker ultimates, poison counters, experience counters, or -1/-1 synergies — and the 3-damage clause means it's never a dead draw even when the proliferate is marginal. In Pauper, it sees occasional play in dedicated poison and proliferate builds, though three mana is a real ask in a faster format. Modern and Pioneer have enough efficient burn that Volt Charge rarely competes, but it remains legal and functional in both. Legacy and Vintage have no use for it — the card is simply outclassed by everything else available at that power level.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.27 bulk tier
At $0.27, Volt Charge is deep bulk — pick it up from any common box or dollar bin without hesitation. There's no version of this card that becomes expensive, so there's no reason to wait or hunt a specific printing.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
- The Scorpion God
- Otharri, Suns' Glory
- Urabrask
- Ashling the Pilgrim
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.