First printed in Tempest (1997)
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.
"We will start small, I think."
—Volrath
- Illustrated by
- Charles Gillespie
Thumbscrews legality
- Legal in
- Legacy, Vintage, Penny Dreadful, Premodern, Commander, Duel Commander, PreDH, Tiny Leaders, Oathbreaker
- Not legal in
- Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Pauper, Future Standard, Historic, Timeless, Alchemy, Old School 93/94, Gladiator, Pauper Commander, Brawl, Standard Brawl, Competitive Brawl
Ruling (1)
- It checks the number of cards in your hand at the beginning of upkeep, and if you have 4 or fewer cards in hand it will not trigger. It checks again when it resolves and will not deal damage unless you still have 5 or more cards in hand.
Prices
Paper price: €0.44 / $0.31 , the cheapest non-foil print (Cardmarket, and TCGplayer, otherwise Mana Pool or Card Kingdom, through MTGJSON, 10 Nov 2026).
MTGO price: 0.009 TIX, the cheapest non-foil print (average sell price on GoatBots, 10 Nov 2026).