Talon of Pain
Artifact
Whenever a source you control other than this artifact deals damage to an opponent, put a charge counter on this artifact.
, 
, Remove X charge counters from this artifact: It deals X damage to any target.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Darksteel
- Price
- $0.17
- EDHREC rank
- #21274
Talon of Pain turns every non-combat damage source into a repeatable ping, and in the right deck that clock adds up fast — especially alongside All Will Be One, where each counter placement becomes a free Lightning Bolt. The catch is a three-mana equip that keeps it off aggressive bodies, so it earns its slot in dedicated counter-proliferation or ping strategies and nowhere else.
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 |
Talon of Pain is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but its real home is Commander — the long game gives the counter accumulation time to matter, and multiplayer means more opponents to ping. In Legacy and Vintage the card is too slow and too narrow; those formats have no interest in a three-mana artifact that does nothing the turn it enters. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander format where Talon of Pain can occasionally show up in a dedicated damage-ping shell, but the smaller deck size makes consistency the limiting factor.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.17 bulk tier
At $0.17, Talon of Pain is pure bulk — it costs less than the stamp on a letter and holds no financial upside. Pick it up freely if the deck calls for it, but don't expect the price to move.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.