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Hedron Detonator

Creature — Goblin Artificer

Whenever an artifact you control enters, this creature deals 1 damage to target opponent.
{T}, Sacrifice two artifacts: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{2}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
rare
Set
March of the Machine Commander
Price
$8.34
EDHREC rank
#4733
Buy on TCGplayer
Hedron Detonator card art
Hedron Detonator turns every artifact you sacrifice into a damage source, and in the right shell that's a win condition stapled to a two-mana body. Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator decks want the Treasure drain, Jaws, Relentless Predator decks want the sacrifice fodder payoff, and the card earns its slot in both.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Jaws, Relentless Predator

Jaws, Relentless Predator

52.6% of decks · synergy 0.51

Jaws, Relentless Predator is the most natural home — the commander churns out artifact tokens to chew through, and Hedron Detonator converts each sacrifice into direct damage, turning the food chain into a clock.

02
Kediss, Emberclaw FamiliarMalcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator

Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar // Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator

41.3% of decks · synergy 0.40

Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar // Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator floods the board with Treasure tokens on every hit, and Hedron Detonator cashes those Treasures for damage to each opponent at once — a lethal combination once the pair has connected a few times.

03
Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy

Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy

38.0% of decks · synergy 0.37

Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy incentivizes building wide with artifacts and then blowing them up, so Hedron Detonator plugs directly into the payoff layer — every Gremlin-fueled sacrifice loop deals damage without needing a separate finisher.

04
Rashmi and Ragavan

Rashmi and Ragavan

33.6% of decks · synergy 0.32

Rashmi and Ragavan generates a steady stream of Treasure and artifact value, and Hedron Detonator ensures that every piece of that wealth does double duty as a burn spell before it leaves the battlefield.

05
Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival

Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival

30.3% of decks · synergy 0.30

Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival supplies a constant feed of artifact creatures and tokens to sacrifice, and Hedron Detonator converts that attrition engine into pressure, letting the deck drain out tables that would otherwise stabilize against the go-wide plan.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern not legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Hedron Detonator is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but Commander is where it actually sees play — the 100-card singleton environment, four-player life totals, and artifact-token synergy commanders are the conditions that make it good. In Legacy and Vintage it's theoretically castable but competes with a century of efficient threat density; there's no realistic shell where it outperforms alternatives in those formats. Oathbreaker's compressed game speed and smaller decks can occasionally support it, particularly with artifact-heavy signatures, but the audience is niche. Commander is the honest answer.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

If the budget is the blocker, Reckless Fireweaver does most of the same work — it pings for each artifact entering rather than leaving, which means less setup but more incremental reach, at a fraction of the price. Disciple of the Vault is the sacrifice-trigger analogue in black, converting artifact deaths into life loss rather than direct damage; you lose the flexibility of Hedron Detonator's activated ability but gain a one-mana body that does the job in most artifact-loop scenarios.

Price Context

Current price

$8.34 mid tier

At $8.34, Hedron Detonator sits in mid-tier territory — not a budget inclusion, but not a barrier either. It's a new card with proven demand in its two or three strongest commander archetypes, so the price reflects real play rather than speculation, and it's unlikely to crater unless a functional reprint lands.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.