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Karn, Silver Golem

Legendary Artifact Creature — Golem

Whenever Karn blocks or becomes blocked, it gets -4/+4 until end of turn.
{1}: Target noncreature artifact becomes an artifact creature with power and toughness each equal to its mana value until end of turn.

CMC
5
Mana cost
{5}
Color identity
C
Rarity
rare
Set
Vintage Masters
Price
—
EDHREC rank
#11476
Buy on TCGplayer
Karn, Silver Golem card art
Karn, Silver Golem turns any artifact into a blocker or attacker by paying one colorless mana — and when Voltaic Construct is on the board, every mana-producing artifact you animate becomes an untap engine that generates infinite mana. The cost is real: five mana for a 4/4 with no built-in protection is a fragile chassis, but the combo potential with Karn, Legacy Reforged and artifact-heavy shells makes it a staple rather than a curiosity.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Karn, Legacy Reforged

Karn, Legacy Reforged

14.6% of decks · synergy 0.11

Karn, Legacy Reforged generates a Karn-specific mana pool sized to your highest-mana-value artifact, and Karn, Silver Golem converts that surplus mana directly into animated threats — together they turn a stocked artifact board into an instant combat threat without touching your regular mana base.

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

Commander is where Karn, Silver Golem lives — artifact-centric decks can reliably assemble the Voltaic Construct loop, and the singleton format gives the card a clear role as both a combo piece and a utility animator. In Vintage, it's legal but too slow and fragile to compete with the format's broken mana and interaction density. Legacy follows the same logic: five mana for a do-nothing-on-entry creature doesn't clear the bar when the format answers it cleanly on the way down. Karn, Silver Golem is not legal in Modern, Pioneer, Standard, or Pauper, so Commander and the eternal fringe formats are the entire conversation.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

unknown tier

Current pricing data for Karn, Silver Golem isn't available in this context, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the most accurate figure before buying. It has seen multiple reprints over the years, which historically keeps the floor low — it's rarely a budget obstacle for the decks that want it.

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Sources

Mentioned

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