Talon Trooper
Creature — Bird Scout
Flying
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- UW
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Modern Masters 2017
- Price
- $0.11
- EDHREC rank
- #28538
Talon Trooper is a 1/3 flyer for two mana that replaces itself when it blocks — a clean, immediate exchange of card and body for a body that trades up on the ground and draws a card on the way out. The rate is modest but the floor is high: you get a blocker plus card parity at minimum, which is more than most two-drops promise.
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, Talon Trooper occupies the low end of playable — it blocks early aggression and replaces itself, which is exactly what a utility two-drop should do, but it rarely earns a slot over cards that generate more lasting advantage. Pauper is where Talon Trooper is most at home: card parity on a defensive body is a real rate at common, and the flying toughness-matters synergies in that format give it actual context. In Legacy, Modern, and Vintage the power ceiling is so high that a 1/3 with a conditional draw trigger never makes the cut. Oathbreaker mirrors Commander closely — playable in the right shell, ignored everywhere else.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.11 bulk tier
At $0.11, Talon Trooper is deep bulk — you pick it up by the handful from a common box without thinking about it. Bulk commons don't appreciate; run it because the effect fits, not because the price might move.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.