Short Bow
Artifact — Equipment
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has vigilance and reach.
Equip 
(: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery.)
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Bloomburrow
- Price
- $0.26
- EDHREC rank
- #4524
Short Bow turns any small attacker into a reliable damage dealer by granting +1/+0 and reach — not flashy, but deathtouch creatures in particular become combat nightmares the moment they can poke over or through. At one mana to cast and one to equip, the total investment is trivial, and Mabel, Heir to Cragflame lists run it in half their builds for exactly that reason.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Mabel, Heir to Cragflame
Mabel, Heir to Cragflame cares about Equipment attached to her, and Short Bow is the cheapest piece of reach available — one mana to cast, one to equip, and it immediately unlocks her triggered ability while letting her threaten flying blockers.
Valduk, Keeper of the Flame
Valduk, Keeper of the Flame generates a token for each Equipment or Aura attached to him at the start of combat, so Short Bow is a one-mana token factory that also patches his ground-only reach problem.
Balan, Wandering Knight
Balan, Wandering Knight can attach all Equipment to himself for two mana, so Short Bow slots in as a near-free piece of the pile — cheap enough that it barely raises the activation cost while adding reach to an already-dangerous double striker.
Toski, Bearer of Secrets
Toski, Bearer of Secrets needs to connect to draw cards, and Short Bow's reach lets the little squirrel bypass flying blockers that would otherwise wall him off.
Traxos, Scourge of Kroog
Traxos, Scourge of Kroog is a massive beater who can get stalled by flying chump blockers, and Short Bow gives him reach for one mana — a trivial cost on a commander that already wants a full Equipment suite.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Short Bow occupies a narrow but real slot: Equipment-matters commanders want the cheapest equip-count possible, and at one and one it clears that bar easily. Outside Commander, the card is legal across every major constructed format — Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage — but sees essentially no play in any of them because one-mana Equipment without a broken rate doesn't compete in those faster, more efficient environments. Pauper is the one format where it's not legal. The honest read is that Short Bow is a Commander-only card in practice, and even there it's only reaching for the top of your list in dedicated Equipment or creature-combat builds.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.26 bulk tier
Short Bow sits at $0.26 — deep bulk, the kind of card you grab from a common box without thinking. At that price it holds no speculative value, but it doesn't need to: you're buying it for the slot, not the price tag.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.