Wash Away
Instant
Cleave 
(You may cast this spell for its cleave cost. If you do, remove the words in square brackets.)
Counter target spell [that wasn't cast from its owner's hand].
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $0.52
- EDHREC rank
- #2831
Wash Away counters any commander for a single blue mana — that efficiency alone makes it an automatic inclusion in blue Commander decks. The three-mana mode that counters any spell cast from outside hand rounds out the card, but the one-mana floor is the reason Baral, Chief of Compliance and every other blue shell wants it.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Baral, Chief of Compliance
Baral, Chief of Compliance turns every Wash Away into a cantrip on the counter trigger, making the card free to hold up and replacing itself whenever it fires — that's the exact engine Baral builds toward.
Talrand, Sky Summoner
Talrand, Sky Summoner converts every Wash Away into a 2/2 Drake token, so each commander tax you impose also advances your board — counterspells that generate threats are the core loop of the deck.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Wash Away earns its slot: the one-mana mode counters commanders specifically, and in a format where commanders hit the stack constantly and commander tax makes things expensive, this is among the most efficient answers available. In Legacy and Vintage, the card is technically legal but rarely played — those formats don't generate command-zone triggers, so Wash Away competes against Force of Will and Counterspell without the conditional upside that makes it exceptional in Commander. Modern and Pioneer are similar: Wash Away is legal but the three-mana hard counter is overcosted for those formats' tempo demands, and the niche one-mana mode almost never applies. Play Wash Away in Commander and nowhere else.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.52 bulk tier
At $0.52, Wash Away sits firmly in bulk territory despite being a genuine staple in blue Commander decks. Bulk counterspells with high inclusion rates tend to stay cheap due to reprint availability, so this is a set-and-forget pickup that won't break a budget.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.