Hopping Automaton
Artifact Creature — Construct
: This creature gets -1/-1 and gains flying until end of turn.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Urza's Saga
- Price
- $0.24
- EDHREC rank
- #30131
Hopping Automaton is a two-mana artifact creature that pays one life and sacrifices itself to give a target creature -1/-1 until end of turn — on-board interaction stapled to a body, but the effect is too small to matter in most Commander contexts. The only reason to run it is Crackdown Construct, which goes infinite with any zero-cost activated ability, and Hopping Automaton's self-sacrifice ability fits that role perfectly.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Hopping Automaton sees no meaningful competitive play in Legacy or Vintage — the effect is underpowered for those formats and the Crackdown Construct combo doesn't exist there the way it does in Commander. In Commander, it's a narrow combo enabler: Hopping Automaton exists almost exclusively to loop with Crackdown Construct and any free activated ability, making it a one-trick card that earns its slot only in decks explicitly built around that interaction. Outside that specific shell, cut it.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.24 bulk tier
At $0.24, Hopping Automaton is bulk — cheap enough to throw in any combo list without a second thought. The price is stable because demand is entirely driven by Crackdown Construct combo builders, a small but consistent audience.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.