Rusted Relic
Artifact
Metalcraft — This artifact is a 5/5 Golem artifact creature as long as you control three or more artifacts.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Scars of Mirrodin
- Price
- $0.14
- EDHREC rank
- #24505
Rusted Relic is a 5/5 artifact creature — but only while you control three or more other artifacts, which makes it a conditional threat that blanks itself the moment your board gets disrupted. A five-mana vanilla beater with an off switch is not a card you build around; it's a card you cut.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Rusted Relic asks you to maintain a critical mass of artifacts just to turn on a 5/5 with no evasion, no ETB, and no protection — a fragile payoff in a format where board wipes and artifact hate are routine. Competitive artifact commanders like Breya, Etherium Shaper or Shorikai, Genesis Engine want every slot to either generate value or close games, and Rusted Relic does neither reliably. In Pauper, where the bar for five-mana plays is higher and affinity shells need consistent threats, it sees no meaningful play. Legacy and Vintage have access to faster, more resilient threats that make Rusted Relic irrelevant at any cost.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.14 bulk tier
At $0.14, Rusted Relic is bulk by any measure, and the price reflects the demand accurately. There is no trajectory that makes this worth holding — pick it up only if a specific casual build calls for it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.