Winterflame
Instant
Choose one or both —
• Tap target creature.
• Winterflame deals 2 damage to target creature.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- RU
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Khans of Tarkir
- Price
- $0.12
- EDHREC rank
- #21469
Winterflame does two separate things on one card — tap a creature or deal 2 damage to a creature, and if you control a blue and a red permanent, you can do both. In Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot decks, it's an instant that taps down a blocker and pings a threat in the same action, which is exactly the kind of multimode spell Lilah wants to rebound for free.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot
Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot rebounds instants and sorceries, and Winterflame is one of the cheapest instants that reliably does two things at once — tapping a blocker and pinging a creature on the same stack entry, then doing it again for free on your next turn.
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 |
Winterflame is a bulk uncommon in every competitive format it's legal in, and that's the honest read — two mana for split 2-damage and tap-a-creature is simply below rate in Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer, where the bar for instant-speed interaction is much higher. In Commander, the calculus shifts slightly: the both-modes requirement is trivially met in any Izzet deck, and the ability to tap a blocker while pinging a utility creature in one card slot has niche appeal in Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot builds that want cheap instants to rebound. Outside of that specific shell, Winterflame doesn't clear the bar for most Commander 99s either.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.12 bulk tier
At $0.12, Winterflame is pure bulk — you're paying for the cardboard, not the effect. There's no meaningful demand to push the price higher, so treat it as a free include if you already own one and skip it if you don't.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.