Unbender Tine
Artifact
: Untap another target permanent.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- UW
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Archenemy
- Price
- $0.46
- EDHREC rank
- #15438
Unbender Tine untaps any artifact or creature, and pairing it with Synod Artificer turns that into a repeatable, scalable engine that can untap your whole board. The two-mana activation cost is real, but Merieke Ri Berit decks treat it as a feature — untapping Merieke on demand lets you steal, kill, and repeat without waiting for your next upkeep.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Merieke Ri Berit
Merieke Ri Berit's tap ability permanently steals a creature, and Unbender Tine solves her core problem: she has to stay tapped to keep the creature, but untapping her kills it — unless you untap her, immediately retap her to something else, and keep the chain going. That loop is exactly what Unbender Tine enables, making it a staple in over a third of Merieke decks.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Unbender Tine is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it's almost exclusively a Commander card. In Legacy and Vintage, the two-mana activation is too slow against formats defined by one-mana interaction and glass-cannon combo; dedicated untap engines there either cost less or generate mana in return. Modern has cheaper, more efficient options for anything Unbender Tine wants to do. Commander is where the card lives — multiplayer games go long enough that a repeatable, flexible untap effect accumulates real value, especially in tap-to-win commanders like Merieke Ri Berit or artifact-heavy builds that want redundancy.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Synod ArtificerUnbender TineChromatic Orrery
Infinite card draw; Infinite colored mana; Infinite colorless mana
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Goblin WelderCorridor MonitorUnbender Tine
Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite sacrifice triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.46 bulk tier
At $0.46, Unbender Tine is firmly bulk — easy to pick up as a throw-in or cheap addition to any order. It sees enough Commander play in dedicated Merieke Ri Berit lists that the price is unlikely to drop further, but niche utility cards at this price tier rarely climb without a reprint reduction or a breakout new commander to push demand.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.