Hexbane Tortoise
Creature — Turtle
Ward 
(Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays .)
Enlist (As this creature attacks, you may tap a nonattacking creature you control without summoning sickness. When you do, add its power to this creature's until end of turn.)
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Dominaria United
- Price
- $0.13
- EDHREC rank
- #21258
Hexbane Tortoise enters tapped and puts every other permanent its controller has into the same state — a board-wide freeze stapled to a 0/4 hexproof body. The cost is a single green mana and the understanding that you're building around Archelos, Lagoon Mystic or a similar tap-matters shell, not just slotting it into a random green deck.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Archelos, Lagoon Mystic
Archelos, Lagoon Mystic flips the entire text box of Hexbane Tortoise — while Archelos is tapped, permanents enter tapped, which is exactly what the Tortoise does on arrival; when Archelos is untapped, everything enters untapped instead, letting you weaponize the Tortoise's trigger on demand rather than suffering it.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Hexbane Tortoise is a role-player, not a staple — it belongs in stax or tap-synergy builds where locking down an opponent's mana or creatures translates directly into wins, and outside those shells it's a 0/4 that hurts you as much as anyone else. Pauper is the most interesting non-Commander home: the format's slower clock and creature-heavy aggro decks make a cheap hexproof blocker that also disrupts the board genuinely disruptive. In Modern and Legacy the card is technically legal but the competition at one mana is brutal and no serious shell wants this effect badly enough to compete with the speed those formats demand. Pioneer sits in a similar position — legal, irrelevant.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.13 bulk tier
At $0.13, Hexbane Tortoise is pure bulk with no financial case to make. Demand is narrow enough that the price is unlikely to climb unless a breakout Commander build pushes it into the spotlight, but at this price point picking up a playset costs less than a pack — there's no reason to hesitate if the deck calls for it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.