Tavern Ruffian // Tavern Smasher
Creature — Human Warrior Werewolf // Creature — Werewolf
Daybound (If a player casts no spells during their own turn, it becomes night next turn.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
- Price
- $0.16
- EDHREC rank
- #19485
Tavern Ruffian // Tavern Smasher flips into a 6/6 trampler for four mana — that's a clean rate on a body that demands an answer. The front side is a 1/5 defender you'd never play alone, so the whole card lives or dies on whether you can reliably trigger the transform, which Tovolar, Dire Overlord makes trivially easy.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Tovolar, Dire Overlord
Tovolar, Dire Overlord triggers the Tavern Ruffian // Tavern Smasher flip condition automatically at upkeep once you have two Wolves or Werewolves attacking, meaning the 6/6 trampler comes online without any extra investment — it's just a curve play that snowballs with the rest of the pack.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Tavern Ruffian // Tavern Smasher is a role-player in Werewolf tribal and almost nowhere else — a 6/6 trampler is fine but not exceptional at the four-mana slot when you're not getting the tribal payoffs. In Pauper it's a legal common, but a vanilla 6/6 for four that requires a hoop to jump through doesn't compete with the format's efficient threats. Modern, Legacy, and Vintage have no interest in it; the transform condition is too slow and the payoff too modest against the card quality available. This is a Commander card, specifically a Tovolar card.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.16 bulk tier
At $0.16, Tavern Ruffian // Tavern Smasher is bulk — pick it up in any common box or throw it in a trade without thinking twice. Bulk rares hold this price permanently; don't expect movement.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Tovolar, Dire Overlord
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.