Rod of Ruin
Artifact
, 
: This artifact deals 1 damage to any target.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- 30th Anniversary Edition
- Price
- $1.00
- EDHREC rank
- #25656
Rod of Ruin costs three mana to cast and three mana every time you want to deal one damage to one target — that's an embarrassing rate in any format with access to better options. Skip 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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Rod of Ruin is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but legality is not the same as playability. In Commander, six mana to ping once isn't a removal spell — it's a tax on your turn, and the 99-card format has no shortage of efficient alternatives. In Legacy and Vintage, the card doesn't come close to the power threshold of those formats. Modern and Pioneer are similarly uninterested: three-mana artifacts that deal one damage on activation don't make those cut lists. Rod of Ruin is, in practice, a nostalgia piece.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.00 cheap tier
At $1.00, Rod of Ruin sits in the cheap tier, and that dollar buys you almost nothing in competitive terms. The price reflects collector and nostalgia demand more than any gameplay utility, so don't expect it to hold value if reprints continue.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.