Torbran, Thane of Red Fell
Legendary Creature — Dwarf Noble
If a red source you control would deal damage to an opponent or a permanent an opponent controls, it deals that much damage plus 2 instead.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Throne of Eldraine Promos
- Price
- $5.61
- EDHREC rank
- #986
Torbran, Thane of Red Fell turns every red source into a threat multiplier — each point of damage becomes three, which means an unanswered Torbran warps the math of an entire game. The synergy ceiling is absurd: pair him with Heartless Hidetsugu and a 40-life opponent becomes a one-shot, or slot him into Norin the Wary to watch pinging triggers spiral out of control.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Norin the Wary
Norin the Wary generates repeated enters-the-battlefield triggers through cards like Genesis Chamber and Purphoros, God of the Forge, and Torbran, Thane of Red Fell turns those incremental one-damage pings into three-damage punches that close games in a single lap around the table.
Zo-Zu the Punisher
Zo-Zu the Punisher already taxes every land drop with two damage; Torbran, Thane of Red Fell bumps that to four, making every fetch land or turn-one basic a significant life investment and accelerating the land-punishment clock to a point opponents can't ignore.
Zurzoth, Chaos Rider
Zurzoth, Chaos Rider floods the board with Devils that ping on death, and Torbran, Thane of Red Fell turns each one-damage death trigger into three — a board wipe suddenly reads as a lethal burn spell aimed at every opponent.
Clive, Ifrit's Dominant
Clive, Ifrit's Dominant generates repeated fire-damage triggers through Phoenix tokens and activated abilities, and Torbran, Thane of Red Fell amplifies every one of those sources, compressing the number of activations needed to eliminate a player.
Kratos, God of War
Kratos, God of War deals damage through combat and triggered abilities that scale naturally with pump effects, and Torbran, Thane of Red Fell stacks on top to push those already-threatening numbers past what most life totals can absorb.
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 |
Commander is where Torbran, Thane of Red Fell does its best work — three opponents means the damage amplification applies in three directions simultaneously, and red burn decks that would stall out against 40 life suddenly have the math to close. In Modern and Legacy, he's a four-drop in formats that punish slowness, so he sees only niche play in dedicated mono-red burn shells that want redundancy beyond Embercleave effects. Pioneer is similarly hostile to a four-mana creature that doesn't immediately end the game, though he occasionally surfaces in damage-doubler combo lists. Oathbreaker offers another multiplayer outlet where his symmetry-busting effect on red sources reads as a must-answer threat, often functioning as a second Furnace of Rath on legs.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Heartless HidetsuguTorbran, Thane of Red FellUmbral Mantle
Lethal damage to opponents not at some specific life totals
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Furnace of Rath does most of the same work for under $2, doubling all damage instead of adding two — the math is worse in low-damage scenarios but better when you're landing big hits, and it dodges creature removal. Fiery Emancipation is a full tripling effect for more mana, but if the angle is pure damage amplification on a budget, these two cover the gap that Torbran, Thane of Red Fell fills without approaching his price point.
Price Context
Current price
$5.61 mid tier
At $5.61, Torbran, Thane of Red Fell sits in the mid tier — affordable enough that red burn and ping decks should just run him, but not so cheap that his price is irrelevant. Demand is steady given his near-universal inclusion in Norin, Zo-Zu, and Zurzoth builds, so this is a card you buy when you need it rather than speculate on.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.