Card
Aethertide Whale
Mana cost {4}{U}{U}
Creature — Whale 6/4
Flying When this creature enters, you get six {E} (energy counters). Pay {E}{E}{E}{E}: Return this creature to its owner's hand.
No bracket restriction: playable from bracket 1. Part of 24 known combos. 9 official rulings.
- Commander
- Legal
- Printing
- Rare · AER · #27
- Cheapest printing
- €0.10
- EDHREC salt
- 0.31
- Color identity
- Blue
- Keywords
- Flying
Bracket
- B1 Exhibition — allowed: No restriction at this bracket
- B2 Core — allowed: No restriction at this bracket
- B3 Upgraded — allowed: No restriction at this bracket
- B4 Optimized — allowed: No restriction beyond the banned list
- B5 cEDH — allowed: No restriction beyond the banned list
Why
- No Game Changer, mass land denial, extra turn, tutor or two-card combo
How Lotus Vault estimates a bracket
Bracket: Lotus Vault analysis, with Commander Spellbook flags
Combos
24 known combos.
- Aethertide Whale + Nissa, Worldsoul Speaker + Panharmonicon
Produces: Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB, Infinite storm count
View on Commander Spellbook - Aethertide Whale + Nissa, Worldsoul Speaker + Aether Refinery
Produces: Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB, Infinite storm count
View on Commander Spellbook - Saheeli, Radiant Creator + Lightning Runner + Aethertide Whale + Aether Refinery
Produces: Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB, Infinite creature sacrifice triggers
View on Commander Spellbook
Combos: Commander Spellbook
Rulings
- 2024-06-07 · Wizards of the Coast
Some spells and abilities that give you {E} may require targets. If each target chosen is an illegal target as that spell or ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve. You won't get any {E}. - 2024-06-07 · Wizards of the Coast
Energy counters are a kind of counter that a player may have. They're not associated with any specific permanents. - 2024-06-07 · Wizards of the Coast
Some triggered abilities state that you "may pay" a certain amount of {E}. You can't pay that amount multiple times to multiply the effect. You simply choose whether or not to pay that amount of {E} as the ability resolves. - 2024-06-07 · Wizards of the Coast
Energy counters aren't mana. They don't go away as steps, phases, and turns end, and effects that add mana "of any type" can't give you energy counters. - 2024-06-07 · Wizards of the Coast
Some triggered abilities that state that you "may pay" a certain amount of {E} describe an effect that happens "If you do." In that case, no player may take actions to try to stop the ability's effect after you make your choice. If the payment is followed by the phrase "When you do," then you'll choose any targets for that reflexive triggered ability and put it on the stack before players can take actions. - 2024-06-07 · Wizards of the Coast
Keep track of how many energy counters each player has. Potential ways to track this include writing theme down on paper or using dice, but any method that is clear and mutually agreeable is fine. (At higher levels of tournament play, dice may not be allowed for tracking counters that players have.) - 2024-06-07 · Wizards of the Coast
{E} is the energy symbol. It represents one energy counter. - 2024-06-07 · Wizards of the Coast
If a spell or ability with one or more targets states that you "may pay" some amount of {E}, and each permanent that it targets has become an illegal target, the spell or ability won't resolve. You can't pay any {E} even if you want to. - 2024-06-07 · Wizards of the Coast
If an effect says you get one or more {E}, you get that many energy counters. To pay one or more {E}, you lose that many energy counters. You can't pay more energy counters than you have. Any effects that interact with counters a player gets, has, or loses can interact with energy counters.
Rulings: Scryfall · Wizards of the Coast