Thundering Spineback
Creature — Dinosaur
Other Dinosaurs you control get +1/+1.
: Create a 3/3 green Dinosaur creature token with trample. (It can deal excess combat damage to the player or planeswalker it's attacking.)
- CMC
- 7
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $0.11
- EDHREC rank
- #8347
Thundering Spineback puts a 5/5 body on board and immediately starts pumping out 3/3 Dinosaur tokens — but at seven mana it demands a deck that can actually reach that number and capitalize on the payoff. It's a role-player in tribal builds like Gishath, Sun's Avatar, and a mana-sink target in Agatha of the Vile Cauldron shells, not a generalist finisher.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Gishath, Sun's Avatar
Gishath, Sun's Avatar decks want density of Dinosaurs above almost everything else, and Thundering Spineback delivers both a big body and an ongoing token-generation engine that keeps the tribe growing after Gishath has swung through.
Owen Grady, Raptor Trainer // Blue, Loyal Raptor
Owen Grady, Raptor Trainer // Blue, Loyal Raptor cares about training counters and Dinosaur synergies, and Thundering Spineback's activated ability gives the deck a mana sink that produces fresh Dinosaur bodies to keep the engine fed turn after turn.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Thundering Spineback is a Commander card through and through — seven mana is too slow for Modern or Pioneer, where games end before it ever resolves. In Legacy and Vintage it's not even a conversation; the raw power floor there is simply too high. Commander is the one format where the seven-mana entry fee is acceptable in ramp-heavy tribal builds, and that's exactly where Thundering Spineback sees all of its play.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Agatha of the Vile CauldronPhyrexian AltarThundering Spineback
Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite sacrifice triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.11 bulk tier
At $0.11, Thundering Spineback is deep bulk — the kind of card you pull from a common box rather than buy. Given its narrow home in Dinosaur tribal Commander builds, don't expect that to change.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Agatha of the Vile Cauldron
- Gishath, Sun's Avatar
- Owen Grady, Raptor Trainer // Blue, Loyal Raptor
- Phyrexian Altar
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.