Serrated Arrows
Artifact
This artifact enters with three arrowhead counters on it.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if there are no arrowhead counters on this artifact, sacrifice it.
, Remove an arrowhead counter from this artifact: Put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Pro Tour Collector Set
- Price
- $0.50
- EDHREC rank
- #16544
Serrated Arrows enters with three arrowhead counters and distributes -1/-1 counters at instant speed without costing mana on activation — that's meaningful repeated interaction stapled to a permanent. In Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons decks it's not a support piece, it's an engine: each activation is a snake.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons
Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons triggers on any -1/-1 counter placed on a creature, so Serrated Arrows turns every end step into a snake factory — three guaranteed triggers before the arrows run dry, all at zero mana once the artifact is down.
The Scorpion God
The Scorpion God draws a card whenever a creature with a -1/-1 counter on it dies, and Serrated Arrows stacks those counters at instant speed, letting you engineer kills and cash in on the draw trigger on your opponents' turns.
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, Serrated Arrows is a -1/-1 counter payoff engine, not just a removal spell — any deck built around Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons or similar counter synergies wants it for the repeated activations at no mana cost. In Pauper it has a genuine competitive history, where three uses of colorless instant-speed -1/-1 shrinks or kills small creatures without touching your mana on your opponent's turn — the tempo math works in a format full of x/1s and x/2s. Legacy and Vintage are too fast and too powerful for Serrated Arrows to matter; it sees no play there. It's a card that rewards formats with synergy density, and Commander is where it does its best work.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.50 bulk tier
At $0.50, Serrated Arrows is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard and postage, not the card. Given its Commander demand in -1/-1 counter decks and its Pauper playability, that price is unlikely to climb without a reprint catalyst, but it won't fall either.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons
- The Scorpion God
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.