Ratchet Bomb
Artifact
: Put a charge counter on this artifact., Sacrifice this artifact: Destroy each nonland permanent with mana value equal to the number of charge counters on this artifact.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Scars of Mirrodin
- Price
- $0.41
- EDHREC rank
- #13647
Ratchet Bomb answers token swarms, low-curve creature builds, and permanent-based combo pieces by wiping everything at a chosen mana value — the cost is that it telegraphs itself and rewards patient opponents. Glissa, the Traitor erases that downside entirely, turning each detonation into a free recursion trigger.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Glissa, the Traitor
Glissa, the Traitor recurs Ratchet Bomb from the graveyard whenever an opponent's creature dies — and Ratchet Bomb's own explosion usually kills something — so the two form a self-sustaining loop that threatens a board wipe every few turns without spending a card.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Ratchet Bomb fills a rare niche: colorless, repeatable, scalable removal that any deck can run regardless of color identity. It's slow by design, but the visibility of the charge counters often functions as a deterrent, warping how opponents play around the zero-to-four mana-value range you're charging toward. In Modern and Pioneer it sees fringe play as a sideboard answer to token strategies and low-curve aggro, where the sorcery-speed limitation hurts less because you have time to set it up. Legacy has faster and more precise answers, so Ratchet Bomb rarely competes there. Across all formats, the card is a budget concession to decks that lack access to better on-color removal — it works, but it's rarely the first choice when alternatives exist.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.41 bulk tier
At $0.41, Ratchet Bomb sits firmly in bulk territory and has for years — multiple printings have kept supply high and the price floor low. It holds that value without much risk of further decline, making it a safe pickup for budget artifact or colorless-removal slots.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.