Wall of Caltrops
Creature — Wall
Defender (This creature can't attack.)
Whenever this creature blocks a creature, if at least one other Wall creature is blocking that creature and no non-Wall creatures are blocking that creature, this creature gains banding until end of turn. (If any creatures with banding you control are blocking a creature, you divide that creature's combat damage, not its controller, among any of the creatures it's being blocked by.)
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Legends
- Price
- $1.04
- EDHREC rank
- #25666
Wall of Caltrops is a 1/3 defender for two mana that gains banding as long as another creature with banding is attacking or blocking alongside it — a mechanic so rarely supported that the condition is nearly impossible to trigger in practice. It blocks a 1/1 and dies to a stiff breeze; run it only in dedicated banding builds, which are a rarity bordering on a novelty.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Wall of Caltrops is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but its relevance is near zero across all of them. In Commander, banding has essentially no support network, so the conditional clause on Wall of Caltrops never activates and you're left with a vanilla 1/3 blocker for two mana — a role filled better by almost any other defensive creature. Pauper is the one format where cheap blockers matter most, but even there a 1/3 that does nothing on offense and requires a second banding creature to unlock its ability can't compete. Legacy and Vintage don't want it at any price.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.04 cheap tier
At $1.04, Wall of Caltrops sits in the budget tier, and that price is almost entirely driven by collector and old-card novelty rather than gameplay demand. Don't expect it to appreciate — it's not a card that sees play, and the ceiling is set by the fact that nobody is building banding competitively.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.