Thran War Machine
Artifact Creature — Construct
Echo 
(At the beginning of your upkeep, if this came under your control since the beginning of your last upkeep, sacrifice it unless you pay its echo cost.)
This creature attacks each combat if able.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $0.11
- EDHREC rank
- #30722
Thran War Machine puts a 4/5 with banding on the board for three mana — impressive stats for the cost — but the upkeep tax of tapping two untapped creatures means it actively punishes you for running it in a deck that doesn't want to sacrifice tempo every turn. Unless your deck already wants exhausted creatures or has a reason to embrace the drawback, this is a trap card dressed up as a deal.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Thran War Machine is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but sees effectively zero competitive play in any of them. In Commander, the upkeep cost of tapping two creatures is a real tax in a format where blockers and utility creatures matter every turn — banding is also a mechanic so rarely relevant at multiplayer tables that it barely registers as an upside. Legacy and Vintage have no interest in a three-mana 4/5 with a punishing upkeep when those formats offer far more efficient threats. Thran War Machine is a bulk curiosity, not a format player.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.11 bulk tier
At $0.11, Thran War Machine is deep bulk — the kind of card that sits in a common box for years without moving. Don't expect the price to rise; banding has never staged a competitive comeback, and there's no commander archetype driving demand.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.