Friendship is Card Games: d20 Pony, Ch. 7, Pt. 1 · 12:21pm Feb 20th, 2022
This week, we return to Trailblazer’s adventures, and this leg of the journey of the saga has so much going on, I’m taking it in halves.
Goodness knows there’s enough to work with in just getting to Midgard. Obtaining a cursed artifact from the queen of the sirens, getting raided by sea dog pirates, performing trade negotiations with harpies… Yeah, there’s a lot going on before the quest proper begins. Also intimations of the Midgard Serpent himself… who at least seems benign.
Now, let’s see what I can make of all of this:
Bottomless Bottle W
Artifact
At the beginning of your upkeep or whenever you cast a white spell, put a charge counter on Bottomless Bottle.
W, T, Remove all charge counters from Bottomless Bottle: You gain 1 life for each charge counter removed this way.
Trade Negotiations 1W
Sorcery
Escalate 1 (Pay this cost for each mode chosen beyond the first.)
Choose one or more —
• You and target opponent each draw a card.
• You and target opponent each gain 5 life.
• You and target opponent each create two 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens.
Maroon 3U
Instant
Target creature’s owner puts it on the top or bottom of their library. You create a Treasure token. (It’s an artifact with “T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.")
“This one trusts the accommodations are to your liking.”
Shipwake Dolphin 3U
Creature — Whale
Shipwake Dolphin can’t be blocked as long as you control an attacking Vehicle.
They dance alongside ships, fascinated by their strange new playmates.
3/2
Sailor’s Wisdom 5U
Sorcery
This spell costs 1 less to cast if you control a Pirate, 1 less to cast if you control an Equipment, and 1 less to cast if you control a Vehicle.
Draw three cards.
Always heed the voice of experience.
Black Hound Negotiator 3B
Creature — Dog Merfolk Pirate
Menace
Raid — Black Hound Negotiator enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it if you attacked this turn.
She wields Mercy and Rhetoric, which are the names of her cutlasses.
3/2
Vicious Plunder 3B
Instant
Destroy target creature. If UR was spent to cast this spell, gain control of all Auras and Equipment that were attached to that creature, then attach them to another creature.
Pirates have a keen understanding of the “finders keepers” principle.
Black Hound Sapper 1R
Creature — Dog Merfolk Pirate
Raid — When Black Hound Sapper enters the battlefield, if you attacked this turn, destroy up to one target artifact.
The Black Hound crew’s development of black powder has made them vastly more dangerous to themselves and others.
2/1
Wind Shepherd Barkeep 2R
Creature — Dog Merfolk Citizen
When Wind Shepherd Barkeep enters the battlefield, if mana from a Treasure was spent to cast it, create a 1/1 red Pirate creature token with menace.
Hospitality is one of the Wind Shepherd crew’s most honored traditions.
2/2
Strange Bedfellows 3RR
Sorcery
Gain control of up to two target creatures until end of turn. Untap them. They gain haste until end of turn. If either of those creatures has soulbond, you may pair them.
“Odd couples even out.”
—Cadence, Princess of Serenity
Windshear Tengu 4R
Creature — Bird Samurai
Whenever a Samurai or Warrior you control attacks alone, Windshear Tengu deals 1 damage to each creature defending player controls.
Far from Equestria, the tengu hone their skills in pursuit of physical and spiritual self-mastery.
3/4
From Another Realm 2G
Instant
Devoid (This card has no color.)
Create a 1/1 colorless Eldrazi Scion creature token. It has “Sacrifice this creature: Add C.” Colorless permanents you control gain hexproof and indestructible until end of turn.
Magic from other worlds behaves oddly. Magic from no world at all more so.
Foreign Investor 3G
Creature — Pony Scout
Domain — T: Add X mana in any combination of colors, where X is the number of basic land types among lands you control.
A wise merchant is always open to new opportunities.
2/2
Sweetscent Spellbomb 1
Artifact
2, T, Sacrifice Sweetscent Spellbomb: Target creature gains deathtouch until end of turn and must be blocked this turn if able.
When Sweetscent Spellbomb is put into your graveyard from the battlefield, you may pay G. If you do, draw a card.
Trade Airship 3
Artifact — Vehicle
Flying
Whenever Trade Airship attacks, for each player, up to one target creature that player controls gains flying until end of turn.
Crew 2 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 2 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
4/3
The Philosopher’s Stone 5
Legendary Artifact
You can’t gain life.
At the beginning of your draw step, draw an additional card.
Spells you cast cost 1 less to cast.
Whenever you cast a spell, you lose 1 life.
Infinite power for the ultimate price.
Snap, Selfless Sailor WU
Legendary Creature — Dog Merfolk Scout
Flash
Sacrifice Snap, Selfless Sailor: Creatures you control gain hexproof and indestructible until end of turn.
“This one is no hero, but this one will not let kindness go unrewarded.”
2/1
Black Hound Trove 1(ur)B
Enchantment
Whenever a Pirate you control deals combat damage to a player, exile the top card of that player’s library.
Attacking Pirates you control get +1/+0 for each card type among cards exiled with Black Hound Trove.
(ur)B, Put a card exiled with Black Hound Trove into its owner’s graveyard: Create a Treasure token.
Court of Tides 1WU
Enchantment
When Court of Tides enters the battlefield, you become the monarch.
At the beginning of your upkeep, for each opponent, tap target permanent that player controls. If you’re the monarch, tap each other permanent that player controls that shares a card type with that permanent.
Bargaining Harpy 1WB
Creature — Harpy Citizen
Flying
When Bargaining Harpy enters the battlefield, choose one —
• Each player draws a card.
• Each player discards a card.
A price for everything, and everything for a price.
2/1
Scrap, Trade Captain 1UR
Legendary Creature — Dog Merfolk Pirate
You may cast Pirate spells as though they had flash.
Whenever you cast a permanent spell during another player’s turn, you may exchange control of it and target spell or nonland permanent an opponent controls. Each player who gains control of a spell this way may choose new targets for it.
2/2
Maelstrom, Siren Queen 1WUB
Legendary Creature — Siren Noble
At the beginning of combat on each opponent’s turn, choose target card in your graveyard. Creatures can’t attack you or planeswalkers you control this turn unless that player has you return that card to your hand.
“Shell by shell, we will rebuild.”
3/4
Three Gifts 1GUR
Sorcery
Reveal the top six cards of your library. You may put a creature card, a land card, and/or a noncreature, nonland card from among them into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
One fun quirk of Scrap, Trade Captain: he absolutely loves counterspells.
If your opponent casts a spell with an empty stack and you counter it, you can swap the counterspell with one of their permanents. You'll get to keep the permanent, while they would get to change the counterspell's target, but the only legal target (since spells can't target themselves) is the spell that was originally going to be countered!
Honestly, Scrap, Trade Captain and Court of Tides feel undercosted for how much they provide. Being able to tap all of somebody's lands with Court of Tides seems especially powerful.
5637988
Given that I am the one blue mage in the world who would rather copy a spell than counter it, I admit, I didn't consider the disgusting potential of Scrap in a control deck. I've made some much-needed adjustments there.
As for the Court, it doesn't keep them from untapping next turn, and they always have the option to respond. Plus, any Courts put a target on your back the size of a small continent, and this one doesn't offer bodies, removal, or card advantage beyond the monarchy.
5638154
Fair point about Court, and yeah, that's a good adjustment on Scrap.