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Plundering Barbarian

Creature — Dwarf Barbarian

When this creature enters, choose one —
• Smash the Chest — Destroy target artifact.
• Pry It Open — Create a Treasure token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.")

CMC
3
Mana cost
{2}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
common
Set
Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
Price
$0.33
EDHREC rank
#4692
Buy on TCGplayer
Plundering Barbarian card art
Plundering Barbarian enters the battlefield and destroys an artifact — no setup required, no hoops to jump through. The cost is a 2/2 body for three mana, which is fine in engines like Magda, Brazen Outlaw that generate treasure anyway, and outright broken when Deadeye Navigator starts blinking it every turn.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Magda, Brazen Outlaw

Magda, Brazen Outlaw

69.1% of decks · synergy 0.63

Plundering Barbarian is a core piece in Magda, Brazen Outlaw because Dwarves tapping to make Treasures feeds Magda's tutor, and the Barbarian's ETB conveniently pops Treasures to add mana — every loop tightens the engine while stripping opponent artifacts.

02
Delina, Wild Mage

Delina, Wild Mage

69.2% of decks · synergy 0.63

Delina, Wild Mage copies Plundering Barbarian on attack, turning a single ETB into a chain of artifact destructions — and since each token is also a Warrior, any lucky roll that copies itself snowballs the effect further.

03
Rionya, Fire Dancer

Rionya, Fire Dancer

37.4% of decks · synergy 0.31

Rionya, Fire Dancer creates additional copies of Plundering Barbarian at the beginning of combat, stacking ETB triggers that shred artifact-heavy boards before a single swing connects.

04
Bruenor Battlehammer

Bruenor Battlehammer

12.2% of decks · synergy 0.11

Bruenor Battlehammer's Equipment-cost reduction pairs with Plundering Barbarian as incidental artifact hate that also cleans up the Equipment scraps opponents might be using to answer Bruenor's wide board.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Commander is where Plundering Barbarian earns its keep — blink and copy strategies turn the ETB into a repeatable removal engine, and the artifact hate is relevant in almost every game. In Pauper, it's a common-legal artifact answer on a creature body, giving aggressive red decks a way to handle Affinity permanents without siding into dead cards. Modern and Pioneer see essentially no play; three mana for a 2/2 that destroys one artifact is far too slow when dedicated removal like Abrade costs two and doesn't ask you to attack with a vanilla body. Legacy and Vintage have the same problem compounded — those formats kill you before the Barbarian's ETB matters.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.33 bulk tier

At $0.33, Plundering Barbarian is deep bulk — easy to pick up as a four-of without thinking about it. Given its narrow home in Magda and blink decks, the price is unlikely to move unless a new Dwarf or ETB commander breaks through.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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