Thumbscrews
Artifact
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have five or more cards in hand, this artifact deals 1 damage to target opponent or planeswalker.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Tempest
- Price
- $0.41
- EDHREC rank
- #27744
Thumbscrews forces an opponent to either discard a card at the start of their turn or take 2 damage — a persistent drain that compounds over a long game. At three mana for a colorless artifact, it fits anywhere but rewards dedicated discard and life-loss strategies most.
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 |
In Commander, Thumbscrews is a slow-burn political tool — one opponent grinding through the choice every turn while you build toward a larger threat. The effect scales better in four-player games where opponents can't instantly neutralize it before it pays off. Legacy and Vintage have it legal but no competitive shell wants it; faster and more impactful discard and burn options exist at every point on the curve. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander format where Thumbscrews could see fringe play inside a dedicated discard shell, but it's still outclassed by options with more immediate impact.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.41 bulk tier
At $0.41, Thumbscrews is deep bulk — you're not making a financial decision here, you're making a deckbuilding one. The price is stable and likely stays there; demand is low enough that supply will always outpace it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.