Whelming Wave
Sorcery
Return all creatures to their owners' hands except for Krakens, Leviathans, Octopuses, and Serpents.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $1.47
- EDHREC rank
- #2219
Whelming Wave clears the board of every creature except Krakens, Leviathans, Octopuses, and Serpents — then your sea monsters swing into an empty field. Four mana for a one-sided wrath is the deal, and in any deck built around those creature types, Runo Stromkirk included, it's not a flex slot.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Runo Stromkirk
Runo Stromkirk's gameplan is assembling a sea-monster board and attacking, and Whelming Wave handles the opposing creatures that would otherwise block or kill you before you get there.
Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep
Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep cheats enormous Krakens and Leviathans into play, so Whelming Wave acts as both a reset button and an instant attack enabler — clear the board, then swing with whatever Kiora just dropped.
Kenessos, Priest of Thassa
Kenessos, Priest of Thassa builds a board of Serpents and sea beasts for free, and Whelming Wave turns that asymmetry into a one-sided wrath that leaves the Kenessos board completely intact.
Koma, Cosmos Serpent
Koma, Cosmos Serpent is a Serpent itself and generates Serpent tokens, so Whelming Wave bounces every opponent's creature while leaving Koma and its entire token army on board.
Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle
Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle is itself a Kraken once it wakes up, meaning Whelming Wave protects it while clearing whatever blockers or threats opponents have assembled.
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 |
Whelming Wave is a Commander card — full stop. The creature-type restriction that makes it a one-sided wrath in a sea-monster deck is a liability everywhere else, so it sees essentially no play in Legacy, Modern, or Pioneer despite being legal in all three. In those formats, a four-mana sorcery that bounces most of the board is too slow and too conditional to compete with unconditional sweepers. Commander is where the math flips: creature-type tribal synergies are common, games go long enough for four mana to feel reasonable, and the asymmetry becomes a genuine bomb rather than a drawback.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.47 cheap tier
At $1.47, Whelming Wave sits in budget-staple territory — cheap enough to slot into any sea-monster build without a second thought. It's a niche card with a dedicated audience, so the price is stable; don't expect significant movement in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.