Spellbinder
Artifact — Equipment
Imprint — When this Equipment enters, you may exile an instant card from your hand.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, you may copy the exiled card. If you do, you may cast the copy without paying its mana cost.
Equip 
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Darksteel
- Price
- $5.37
- EDHREC rank
- #15123
Spellbinder lets you imprint an instant and cast a free copy of it every time the equipped creature deals combat damage — staple Teferi's Protection on it and you have a repeatable protection spell that fires every swing. Three mana to equip is real, but the payoff is high enough that any deck running large, evasive creatures should consider it.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Spellbinder is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it's almost exclusively a Commander card in practice. The three-mana equip cost is too slow for Legacy and Vintage, where the game ends before you get multiple attack steps to recoup the investment. In Modern the same problem applies — the format's too fast for a value engine that asks you to connect with a creature repeatedly. Commander is the natural home: games go long, creatures swing repeatedly, and the free spell trigger can generate enormous tempo or protection advantages over the course of a game.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Teferi's ProtectionSpellbinder
Permanents you control phase out during your opponents' turns; You have protection from everything during your opponents' turns; Your life total can't change during your opponents' turns; Lock
View combo details →
SpellbinderSavage Beating
Infinite combat phases; Infinite damage; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite storm count
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
SpellbinderGreat Train Heist
Infinite storm count; Infinite combat phases; Infinite untap of creatures you control; Infinite mana creatures you control can produce; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite combat damage
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
SpellbinderBeacon of TomorrowsMystical Tutor
Infinite turns; Skip your draw steps; Lock
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Spellbinder is fairly unique in its effect, but Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves fill the protection role cheaper if that's the primary goal. If the appeal is repeatable spell value off combat damage, Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar or Sword of the Animist offer cheaper redundancy in creature-centric builds, though neither replicates the free-copy-of-any-instant angle that makes Spellbinder genuinely singular.
Price Context
Current price
$5.37 mid tier
At $5.37, Spellbinder sits in the mid tier — not a casual throw-in, but not a barrier to entry either. It's a niche card with a loyal audience in specific combo and voltron shells, so the price is stable rather than speculative.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.