<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teferi&#039;s Protection" href="#" target="_blank">Teferi&#039;s Protection</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.chasestoneart.com/">Chase Stone</a></em></p>
<p>It’s Salt Score voting week at EDHREC, and this time of data collection is also a time of data reflection! I've pored over 2025’s Salt Scores and dug up the 10 most played of the Top 100 Saltiest Cards. I'm here to note how salty they are and why they still see so much play in comparison to others on their list. Let’s drink a big glass of water and dive in.</p>
<h2>#10 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Orcish Bowmasters" href="#" target="_blank">Orcish Bowmasters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Orcish Bowmasters"></div></div>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 405,957</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 2.07</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Ranking: 46</strong></p>
<p>Commander players love drawing cards. Out of the top 50 creatures played in the format, 20 of them only have 1 toughness, so the Orc can usually kill something valuable outright. And if there isn’t a target when the card is drawn? It can still go face. All while growing its Orc Army!</p>
<p>Why the salt? It’s too much value for too little mana — and on a reactive, controlling piece to boot.</p>
<h2>#9 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Force of Will" href="#" target="_blank">Force of Will</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Force of Will"></div></div>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 473,002</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 2.01</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Ranking: 55</strong></p>
<p>Can anything new be said about Force? It’s the first free counterspell ever printed and remains one of the best. Needing to have another blue card in hand isn’t hard (but not a cakewalk, as demonstrated by it being in the bottom half of salty).</p>
<p>Why the salt? It’s a free counterspell. Looking for a shields moment in the blue player(s) and going for it only to hear “Force” is gut-churning.</p>
<h2>#8 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Farewell" href="#" target="_blank">Farewell</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Farewell"></div></div>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 518,178 </strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 2.13</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Ranking: 41</strong></p>
<p>This is the newest card of the top 10. It is a true board wipe, getting rid of basically every major permanent type and graveyards for good measure. For six mana, it’s very attainable in most games. Its high usage can also be attributed to being included in several different commander precons across the last few years.</p>
<p>Why’s it salty? Compare this to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Worldfire" href="#" target="_blank">Worldfire</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sway of the Stars" href="#" target="_blank">Sway of the Stars</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Farewell isn’t a full game reset in the same way that those cards are, but this is damning with faint praise. “Choose up to two modes” would have gone a long way to making this card feel better to play against.</p>
<h2>#7 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mana Drain" href="#" target="_blank">Mana Drain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mana Drain"></div></div>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 706,609</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 1.89</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Ranking: 69</strong></p>
<p>Interesting note: this is the least salty card in the list.</p>
<p>This is the most busted counterspell that’s not free. Before Wizards of the Coast started making supplemental draft products, Mark Rosewater famously said that all of R&amp;D would have to be run over by a bus for this card to be reprinted. Even if you don’t have a use for the mana, it’s still <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Counterspell" href="#" target="_blank">Counterspell</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, one of the most played cards of all time. “You're welcome for the convenience.”</p>
<p>This being on the lower end of salt feels like it’s being compared to the free counterspells.</p>
<h2>#6 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teferi&#039;s Protection" href="#" target="_blank">Teferi&#039;s Protection</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Teferi&#039;s Protection"></div></div>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 731,446</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 2.13</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Ranking: 39</strong></p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teferi&#039;s Protection" href="#" target="_blank">Teferi&#039;s Protection</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a three-mana <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fog" href="#" target="_blank">Fog</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>… or a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heroic Intervention" href="#" target="_blank">Heroic Intervention</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that also dodges <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Farewell" href="#" target="_blank">Farewell</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. And for good measure, it protects you from <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Banefire" href="#" target="_blank">Banefire</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> of all things, a card that can’t be countered and whose damage can’t be prevented. This card looks at both of those lines of text and laughs. It’s shockingly versatile and that versatility brings with it a sense of “oh, of course, this card again”.</p>
<p>This versatility is why it’s so salty. Counterspells are commonly cited as the most frustrating card type that R&amp;D consistently supports, and the big T-Prot here acts as a counterspell in most situations while also being able to interact with a developed board state.</p>
<h2>#5 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The One Ring" href="#" target="_blank">The One Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The One Ring"></div></div>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 798,000</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 2.55</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Ranking: 14</strong></p>
<p>What do you mean it’s an insane draw engine stapled to half of a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teferi&#039;s Protection" href="#" target="_blank">Teferi&#039;s Protection</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and it costs generic mana? Look, the card is at its best when you can untap it or flicker it, but even a “fair” One Ring is going to take over the game by drawing an obscene amount of cards in no time flat.</p>
<p>Most likely reasons for saltiness: the price tag, generic mana cost, and everything written on the card.</p>
<h2>#4 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fierce Guardianship" href="#" target="_blank">Fierce Guardianship</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fierce Guardianship"></div></div>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 855,000</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 2.30</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Ranking: 27</strong></p>
<p>The second card in this list to be originally printed in a precon! The cycle of “if you control a commander” free spells from<em> Commander 2020</em> have had a big impact on the format, to say the least. Not only is this comparable to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Force of Will" href="#" target="_blank">Force of Will</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, it compares favorably because I wouldn’t feel terrible about hard-casting this in a pinch.</p>
<p>Why the salt? A free counterspell, and easier than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Force of Will" href="#" target="_blank">Force of Will</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. The high amount of play despite the high amount of salt can mostly be chalked up to relative availabilities. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Force of Will" href="#" target="_blank">Force of Will</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is in just a little over half as many decks, so it isn’t as visible.</p>
<h2>#3 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smothering Tithe" href="#" target="_blank">Smothering Tithe</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Smothering Tithe"></div></div>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 932,000</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 2.58</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Ranking: 12</strong></p>
<p>Here we are, in the big 3, with a card that’s nearly in the top 10 saltiest cards. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smothering Tithe" href="#" target="_blank">Smothering Tithe</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> turns your opponents’ draws into taxation or Treasure for only four mana, with one white pip to be seen. That obscene tax rate of two mana per draw makes this a Treasure-dumping machine. The high splashability means there’s virtually no cost of inclusion for deckbuilding.</p>
<p>Why the salt? Too much value for its mana cost, and the constant questioning is like driving on a highway that suddenly has speed bumps.</p>
<h2>#2 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cyclonic Rift"></div></div>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 1,008,000</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 2.36</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Ranking: 22</strong></p>
<p>The first card of the list to break a million decks, Cyclonic Rift used to be <i>the</i> salt-inducing card. It was a consistent top 10 for the first few years of the Salt List.</p>
<p>The instant speed one-sided board wipe in blue for seven mana, or a perfectly serviceable <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Disperse" href="#" target="_blank">Disperse</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in a pinch. The best C-Rifts are those used to clear the way for victory, but… all too often it’s a dead card because the player isn’t actually at seven mana, or else they deploy it while behind and just grind the game to a halting “do it again, but more frantically”.</p>
<p>Yeesh. The only thing worse than this is…</p>
<p>Oh dear sweet mother of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Ur-Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">The Ur-Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (61st-saltiest card, by the way, at 1.97)… Let’s take a break first.</p>
<h2>Honorable Mentions</h2>
<p>The EDHREC Salt Score list includes every card that has some salt votes on it. I chose to limit my scope to the Top 100 for reasons of breadth of coverage as well as cohesiveness. (Did you know <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Not on My Watch" href="#" target="_blank">Not on My Watch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has a 1.14 Salt Score… making it higher than <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait" href="#" target="_blank">Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> at 1.13? Strange!) However, I will take a moment to highlight some of the most-played cards from the general list here (and note where they would have roughly been placed had they been included).</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mystic Remora"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Esper Sentinel"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Deflecting Swat"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mystic Remora" href="#" target="_blank">Mystic Remora</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (pseudo #9)</p>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 774,166</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 1.54</strong></p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Esper Sentinel" href="#" target="_blank">Esper Sentinel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (pseudo #7)</p>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 872,000</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 1.67</strong></p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Deflecting Swat" href="#" target="_blank">Deflecting Swat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (pseudo #6)</p>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 887,000</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 1.72</strong></p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mystic Remora" href="#" target="_blank">Mystic Remora</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Esper Sentinel" href="#" target="_blank">Esper Sentinel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> both interrupt the game with “do you pay the (number)” but at least Remora blows itself up in a few turns and Sentinel is a fragile artifact creature. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Deflecting Swat" href="#" target="_blank">Deflecting Swat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> only just missed the Top 100, taking 102nd place — free interaction is always trouble, but at least this one has a “you deserved that” element.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ancient Tomb"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Demonic Tutor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sol Ring"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ancient Tomb" href="#" target="_blank">Ancient Tomb</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (pseudo #4)</p>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 972,000</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 1.41</strong></p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Demonic Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Demonic Tutor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (pseudo #3)</p>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 948,000</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 1.58</strong></p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sol Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Sol Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (pseudo #1)</p>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 8,401,000</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 1.46</strong></p>
<p>These three are clearly here due to ubiquity and value. None of them have crazy lines of text, they just do one thing a little too well for most play groups. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sol Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Sol Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as a number one most-played “salty card” would have felt a little silly, if we’re being honest.</p>
<p>There’s one final card to talk about, the card from the Top 100 Saltiest list that’s the most played. It also does one thing a little too well, but that one thing is <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/the-intersections-of-salt-and-rhystic-study">really, <i>really</i> annoying</a>…</p>
<h2>#1 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rhystic Study"></div></div>
<p><strong>Deck Count: 1,105,000</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Score: 2.73</strong></p>
<p><strong>Salt Ranking: 5</strong></p>
<p>The fifth-saltiest card is also the most played saltbomb. It’s a little jarring, on some level.</p>
<p>You know it, you hate it, and you apparently play it anyway, it’s Rhystic Study. The three mana enchantment that originated the “do you pay the 1?” memes. In bad pods, no one pays the one, and the Rhystic player wins. In solid pods, the game is slowed by the tax until someone draws removal and then plays their own Rhystic. And everyone groans as they keep having to answer a question with no good answer before they can finish playing a spell.</p>
<h2>What Can We Learn From This?</h2>
<p>Magic players aren’t logical, that’s for sure. My first thought was that the most played salty cards would all be the least salty of the bunch. Instead I found the opposite — the fifth-saltiest is the most played of that category. I think prevalence may be a big factor here! It’s hard to find something salty if you don’t see it at all.</p>
<p>Most of the cards on this list have unique qualities when compared to a lot of the other salty cards. Instead of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smokestack" href="#" target="_blank">Smokestack</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stasis" href="#" target="_blank">Stasis</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> effects, we have reactive pieces — counterspells, effects which can protect your game plan, or ways to disrupt your opponents in short bursts rather than keep them from playing outright.</p>
<p>Some of these reactive pieces are great, but they just drag the game out if the caster doesn’t have a win on the way. When not reactive, they are turbo value engines that quickly outpace all else. Magic players don’t like their games to be too slow, or too fast.</p>
<p>They need it to be… well…</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Three Bowls of Porridge"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Flaxen Intruder|ELD|155"></div></div>
<h3>The EDHREC Salt Score voting <a href="https://edhrec.com/salt">is now open</a>! Cast your votes today!</h3>


did you pay the 1

The 10 Most-Played Salty Cards in Commander