Unusual Tribes 5: Myr

Myr are the next tribe to be examined in this series, which dusts off and discusses unusual Magic the Gathering creature types. Native to the artificial plane of Mirrodin, the Myr debuted in the block of the same name in 2003. Currently 35 Myr exist, as well as a handful of cards which generate Myr tokens. Myr are small artifact creatures. With the exception of Sarcomite Myr, and certain Myr tokens, they are all colourless. The Myr were constructed by Memnarch, the plane’s warden, to act as his loyal servants. Through an object called the Darksteel Eye, Memnarch was able to look through the eyes of every Myr and thus monitor the entire plane. After the death of their master the Myr of Mirrodin were left lost and without purpose. The Phyrexian invasion granted their lives new meaning, one way or another, some became corrupted servants of the invaders, whilst others stood alongside their fellow Mirrans in resistance. After Phyrexia’s victory most of Mirrodin’s Myr became the puppets of their conquerers. Although some, such as Alloy Myr, continue to resist.

Myr derive their name from the Greek term ‘myrmeco’ which is the taxonomic term for ants. The link between Myr and ants is clear, to quote Magic designer Mark Gottlieb on the subject, both are ‘small, ubiquitous, busy workers’.[1] Their name also links them to the Myrmidons, an order of warriors from Greek mythology renowned for their loyalty to their master Achilles. The Myr once felt the same devout loyalty towards Memnarch.

Myr possess a variety of effects although, primarily, they interact with artifacts. Some Myr return artifacts from the graveyard, others grant artifacts flash or place charge counters on them. This is to name but a small selection of tools from their artifact based arsenal. Outside of their interactions with artifacts Myr offer a selection of other effects, such as generating mana, creating tokens and returning themselves from the graveyard. 

Mana Making Myr

 Gold Myr, Silver Myr, Leaden Myr, Iron Myr and Copper Myr generate white, blue, black, red and green mana respectively. The members of the cycle have a pattern weaved through their flavour text. In their first priniting, in the original Mirrodin, the text describes the relationship between Myr and one of the races of Mirrodin. For example, Copper Myr describes the relationship between Myr and elves, stating ‘the elves thought of the Myr as minor threats, just as the myr thought of the elves’. When this cycle was reprinted in Scars of Mirrodin, their flavour text was changed and a new pattern was created. The Myr are now described as being similar to a material and a brief comparison is then made between the named material and the Myr. For example, Gold Myr's flavour text states ‘The myr are like razorgrass: numberless metal figures, reflecting each other's light’.

Scars of Mirrodin block brought in an additional mana making Myr in each of its constituent sets. Scars of Mirrodin itself introduced Palladium Myr, which adds two colourless mana to its controller’s mana pool. Palladium Myr’s flavour text matches its predecessors comparing it to the Glimmervoid, a blank desert-like expanse of smooth metal which stretches across Mirrodin’s surface. Matching this comparison to a blank void-like space, Palladium Myr adds 2 colourless mana to its controller’s mana pool.

Mirrodin Besieged added Plague Myr a Myr which both generates colourless mana and spreads poison counters through the Infect mechanic. Plague Myr demonstrates that Mirrodin’s Myr are falling to Phyrexian corruption.

Finally, New Phyrexia added one final Myr mana dork, Alloy Myr. Alloy Myr produces one mana of any colour, its art depicts it sitting beneath the 5 suns of Mirrodin, justifying its ability as each of the five suns is linked to one of the five colours of mana. Alloy Myr is a bittersweet card. Mirrodin’s suns are shown setting, demonstrating how the plane has fallen and transformed into New Phyrexia, yet the card’s flavour text ‘with or without witnesses, the suns continued their prismatic dance’ shows how the dawn will come again, even

under Phyrexian rule, and hints that  someday Mirrodin may be reborn.

Though hardly auto-includes, these mana making Myr can be used in certain EDH decks. They are typically less useful than signets, however, as they are vulnerable to board wipes and creature removal. These cards combo with several other cards of their tribe. Myr Superion needs to be summoned by mana generated from creatures, making any of these Myr able to help bring it forth effectively. Palladium Myr is especially useful, at this task, as it can bring the Superion to the field alone. Myr Enforcer, a 7 mana 4/4 Myr with Affinity for Artifacts, can be brought out rapidly using these Myr as well.

The Myr the merrier

Myr have a lord in Myr Galvanizer. Myr Galvanizer provides a +1/+1 to other Myr, and can be tapped down (at the cost of one mana) to untap other members of the tribe. This effect works especially nicely with the Myr mana dorks mentioned above, as it allows each of them to generate twice as much mana. As cards which buff artifact creatures benefit all Myr, Chief of the Foundry and Master of Etherium are functionally Myr lords as well.

Myr Servitor has a noteworthy effect. Each upkeep, if a Myr Servitor is on the battlefield, all Myr Servitors in either graveyard are returned to the battlefield. The flavour text makes clear what this effect represents, stating ‘The Krark Clan enjoys pulling them apart just to watch them reassemble one another’. Myr Servitors are evidently reassembling robots. Bringing up the Krark-clan in this text fleshes out the world of Mirrodin. A tribe of Mirran goblins, known for their infamous combo-enabling ironworks, the Krark-clan’s ability to destroy artifacts is infamous. Every card bearing the term ‘Krark-clan’ in its name destroys artifacts in some way. It is clear that the servitors are putting themselves together again, perhaps having fallen victim to the curious whims of some Krark-clan Engineers. The artwork on the card contributes further to this narrative. It depicts a Myr Servitor piecing another fallen servitor back together again. The art also makes clear that these servitors are small, even compared to other Myr, as we can see blades of grass rising high above them in the background.

Myr also, sort of, have a legendary commander in Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer. Brudiclad, though an artificer rather than a Myr himself, generates a 2/1 blue Myr artifact creature token on each of his controller’s combat phases. Brudiclad also grants all tokens haste, and enables them all to become copies of the strongest token in play. This synergises with the token generation strategy printed on several Myr cards such as Myr Battlesphere and Myr Incubator. This copy effect also enables some fun, if somewhat difficult to execute, strategies. Copying a powerful token, such as the 10/10 Eldrazi token generated by Idol of Oblivion, turns a mob of meek metallic Myr into a writhing horde of Lovecraftian monstrosities. [2] It is unfortunate that Brudiclad, does not have white in his colour identity. This causes Commander decks based around him to lose access to several Myr support cards, such as Myrsmith and Shrine of Loyal Legions. This also cuts Brudiclad decks off from white cards which are useful in token decks, most notably Anointed Procession.

Myr Support cards

One thing which makes Myr notable, in comparison to the other tribes previously  discussed in this series, is that a significant number of cards which archetypally support them exist. Several of these support cards simply generate Myr tokens, such as Master’s Call and Myrsmith. Myr Incubator can generate a huge number of these tokens, albeit at a steep cost both in mana and needing to exile artifacts from your deck. The huge number of tokens generated by the Incubator can potentially overwhelm opponents, though the card runs the risk of exiling most of its controller’s library only to have all of the Myr it generates destroyed by a board wipe. Genesis Chamber creates Myr whenever a non-token creature comes into play. Notably this effect is symmetrical, so before long both sides of the battlefield should be swarming with Myr.

Beyond token generation, there are other Myr support cards with differing and unique effects. Myr Resevoir generates colourless mana which can be spent exclusively to play Myr and can also return Myr from the graveyard to the hand. Myr Matrix provides a +1/+1 bonus to every Myr in play, and has the ability to generate tokens, but at 5 mana is likely too expensive to be useful in any format outside of Commander. Myr Turbine allows for significantly cheaper Myr generation, as well as the ability to bring Myr directly from the library onto the battlefield. The turbine, unlike the matrix, is not Indestructable and it does not provide the same +1/+1 bonus. However, the ability to flood the board with Myr Battlespheres more than makes up for these shortcomings and, arguably, makes it a better card.

Mirrodin Besieged from Modern Horizons is one of the more interesting Myr support cards. Like many cards from Modern Horizons it exists as a reference to Magic’s history. Specifically it is a throwback both to the set Mirrodin Besieged, which shares its name, and to a cycle of cards from Fate Reforged. The Siege cycle was a series of five enchantments which told the story of the war between the clans of Tarkir and the plane’s dragons. These cards had two effects of which only one could be chosen. One of these effects was labelled ‘khans’ and the other ‘dragons’. Choosing either option enabled players to pick a side in the sets war through their actions in gameplay. 

Mirrodin Besieged parallels this cycle, but changes its context from the war between the Khans and dragons on Tarkir, to the war between the Mirrans and Phyrexians on Mirrodin. The Mirran effect creates a Myr creature token whenever its controller plays an artifact, an effect which demonstrates the Mirrans rising to resist the invaders. Given that all Myr are artifact creatures, this effect works well in a Myr tribal deck, allowing you to play a second Myr each time one would come into play. The Phyrexian effect, meanwhile, is more complex. It allows its controller to draw and then discard a card during their end step, as well as being an alternate-win condition which causes its controller to win the game if they have 15 or artifacts in their graveyard at the end of their turn. This second effect reflects the Phyrexians ultimate victory in the war. The fact that this victory is attained when a large number of artifacts are in the graveyard demonstrates how the Phyrexians slaughter much of the populace of Mirrodin, a plane heavily themed around artifacts.  Alternate win-condition cards are always interesting to build decks around, however, this second ability doesn’t work quite as well in a Myr deck as the first. Myr are better at getting artifacts out of the graveyard than putting them in there.

Flavour: A

The effects of Myr are wide-ranging, but also appropriate to their flavour as artificial ant-like workers.  The multitude of ways to create Myr tokens reflects their ever-presence across Mirrodin. Myr who return from the graveyard demonstrate their ability to reassemble themselves. Their ability to generate mana reflects their alignment with each of the five moons of Mirrodin, and thus with each of the colours. Finally Myr gaining Infect demonstrates their increasing corruption throughout the Scars of Mirrodin block, which parallels the increasing degradation of their home plane. Each of these differing effects slots together neatly, furthering their identity rather than undermining it or becoming making it too broad. It is clear that Myr serve a variety of functions in both Mirran and New Phyrexian society and these functions are well represented on their cards.

Viability: A-

Myr definitely make the most viable tribal deck of any of the tribes discussed thus far. They have by far the most support, of any of the previously discussed tribes, and have genuine synergies and strategies binding them together. Though Myr may never become a tier 1 modern deck, it is entirely possible to build a usable casual deck featuring them in the format. Beyond this, Myr Enforcer was once a key part of the affinity decks which terrorised standard from 2003 to 2005. In Commander Myr also offer fun and versatile deck building possibility, whether one wants to make a token-themed go-wide deck or an artifact centric strategy. Myr can only get better with time, as Magic’s story seems to be gearing up for a return to New Phyrexia in the relatively near future.

Best and Worst Myr:

Myr Battlesphere is arguably the best card of the tribe. 7 Mana for a total of 8/11 worth of stats, spread out over five bodies, is undoubtedly impressive. In formats where large creatures are practical, or if it can be cheated out, the Battlesphere demands an answer. Though without some means of granting it haste the Battlesphere does not present an immediate threat, in the event that it is able to attack it is guaranteed to leave a mark. Shimmer Myr also deserves a mention. Its ability to grant artifacts Flash enables many interesting strategies and its name is incredibly fun to read aloud.

Myr Adapter, in contrast, is simply awful. A 1/1 for 3 mana, Myr Adapter receives +1/+1 for each piece of equipment attached to it. This means that at least 2 pieces of equipment attached to it to be worth its cost, and even then, a 3/3 for 3 is hardly exciting.  Myr Prototype is also terrible. A 2/2 for 5 mana which gets a +1/+1 counter on each of its controller’s upkeep phases is already unremarkable. That this comes with the additional downside of the Prototype not being able to attack or block unless 1 mana is spent for each +1/+1 counter on it makes the card largely unusable.

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[1] https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/myrrer-myrrer-2004-06-10
[2] I had initially written here that it was possible to transform the Myr into a 20/20 Marit Ladge token, as created by Dark Depths or Marit Lage's Slumber. Unfortunatley this does not work as the tokens are legendary and thus cannot be copied. My thanks to Maridiem on Reddit for pointing out my mistake.

Unusual Tribes 4: Wurms

Intro

Wurms are the subject of the fourth column in this series, which explores unusual creature types. A scaled race of serpentine creatures, Wurms derive their name from both real life 'worms', and 'wyrms'. The latter being synonym for dragons in many fantasy works. The most notable thing about Wurms is their colossal size. They are possibly the physically largest creatures in the game. The flavour text of Autochthon Wurm conveys just how vast these creatures truly are, 'the trainer awoke to begin the journey from the Wurm's tail to its head. The sun was setting when she arrived.' Assuming the Wurm's trainer awoke in the morning, it is clear that the size of Wurms should be measured not in inches or yards, but in miles.

Wurms have been with Magic since the beginning. Craw Wurm was introduced in  Alpha. Currently 89 black bordered Wurms have been printed, making them by far the most populous tribe which this series has assessed thus far. Vedalken occupy a distant second with 60 cards. This isn't even counting the handful of cards which generate Wurm tokens, such as Sandwurm Convergence and Advent of the Wurm.

Just over 82% of Magic's Wurms are green, 73 out of  89.  Of these 73, 60 are monogreen, 4 are white/green, 6 are red/green, 1 is green/blue, 1 is green/black and 1 is green/red/black. Of the 16 non-green Wurms: 7 are monoblack, 4 are monored, 2 are monowhite, 2 are colourless and 1 is monoblue.

Representing Wurmhood

The physical size of Wurms is represented in gameplay by giving them expensive casting costs and high stats. They are often given Trample as a means of reflecting how they flatten everything in their path.  Many Wurms interact with the graveyard, especially those on Innistrad or aligned with the Golgari Swarm, for example, Boneyard Wurm and Soul Swallower. This reflects how Wurms, much like maggots and real life worms, feast upon the deceased. Certain Wurms, including Pelakka Wurm and Engulfing Slagwurm, heal their controller. Though it may seem unusual to associate giant monstrous serpents with lifegain, their healing effects demonstrate them consuming everything before them.  Just as food tokens in Throne of  Eldraine, associate eating with recovering life. 

There are Wurms affiliated with each of Ravnica's green aligned guilds, except for the Simic Combine. Although, just how colossal serpentine monsters attain guild membership is unclear. Golgari Wurms, such as Vigorspore Wurm  and Golgari Rotwurm, are depicted menacingly slithering through the catacombs beneath the city amongst the dead. The Wurms of the Gruul Clans serve the anarchic objectives of their guild by literally smashing apart Ravnican civilisation. A fact elegantly evidenced by Streetbreaker Wurm which, as its name would imply, shows a Wurm reducing a Ravnican road to rubble.[1] The Wurms of Selesnya are the largest of the plane's denizens, including the aforementioned miles long Autochthon Wurm. This demonstrates the Conclave's reverence for the might and majesty of nature. 

It is unfortunate that there are currently no Simic aligned Wurms. Splicing a Wurm together with a smaller creature such as a toad, or making a winged Wurm, would undoubtedly result in some fascinating cards. The Combine's engineers will surely have to try their hand at this in the event we return to Ravnica for a fourth time.

The Glorious Greatwurm

At the time of writing the strongest card currently in the game, at least in terms of pure stats, is a Wurm. Impervious Greatwurm, the buy-a-box promo from Guilds of Ravnica, towers above most other creatures, with a colossal 16/16 statline. The Greatwurm is twice as strong as the 8/8 Force of Nature (the most powerful card printed in Alpha) and mightier than Emrakul, the Aeons Torn (a 15/15 Eldrazi Titan). By the math of Magic the Gathering, Impervious Greatwurm is exactly 8 times as powerful as the average bear and 16 times as powerful as most squirrels. 

Despite its prodigious strength the Greatwurm, as a buy-a-box promo, was not designed to dominate standard but rather 'to give something cool to casual and Commander players'.[2] In other words the Wurm, and other buy-a-box cards, are intended be exciting but ultimately impractical outside of EDH. Unlike Nexus of Fate ,which was made a little too competitive, this is a goal which was definitely met in the design of the Greatwurm.  Spending 10 mana for a creature with no form of evasion and no immediate board impact, even considering this cost can be reduced via Convoke, is rarely a winning move.  The Greatwurm has currently made no impact on Standard, where it is still legal for another 10 months. Ghalta, Primal Hunger is often considered a more usable counterpart to the Selesnya Conclave's largest member. Despite being noticeably weaker, and not being Indestructable, Ghalta is significantly easier to bring onto the battlefield early and possesses Trample. 

Despite its relative impracticality, or perhaps because of it, Impervious Greatwurm continues to inspire determined brewers to build decks around it. Token decks are able to Convoke the Wurm out as a win condition, typically then granting it some form of unblockability. Red/Green decks sometimes make use of effects such as Thud and Fling to hurl the game's biggest boi at their opponent's face for massive damage. Whilst Black/Green decks can reanimate it. 

Other Notable Wurms

Craw Wurm is possibly Magic the Gathering's most famous Wurm. Printed in each Core Set from Alpha to Magic 2010, Magic's premier Wurm grew gradually less and less relevant with each reprint. The power level of other creatures gradually rose over time, making Craw Wurm's 6 power and 4 toughness for 6 mana incrementally less impressive.  In the set Dominaria, Mark Rosewater attests that Magic's designers 'thought it would be fun to make a statement about how far creatures have come since the early days of Magic'.[3] To attain this goal, they printed a successor to Craw Wurm. Primordial Wurm is a 7/6 for 6 mana, making it notably superior to its predecessor, having +1/+2 for no additional cost. Despite its increased strength, Primordial Wurm never made impact on any format beyond Limited. Even in drafts Primordial Wurm has, at best, lower-mid tier viability.  It is not a good choice for a first pick in Dominaria or War of the Spark, where it was printed for a second time. Perhaps in years to come Primordial Wurm will be replaced in turn by a newer, better Wurm to fill slots in the sealed decks of the future.

There is a single Silver-bordered Wurm, though how it operates requires some explanation. Unstable featured a selection of what are called 'Host' and 'Augment' cards. Host cards are creatures with an enter the battlefield ability. Augments combine with their hosts granting them new creature types, a statistical bonus and allowing their ability to be triggered again in new circumstances. For example, the Host card Adorable Kitten can be combined with the Augment Rhino- to create a Rhino-Kitten. 

One of these Augments, Serpentine, transforms its Host into a Wurm. It also provides the Host with a +3/+3 bonus to its stats and causes their ability to trigger each time a land enters their controller's side of the battlefield (Landfall). In some ways this is very flavourful. The +3/+3 bonus provided by the augmentation matches the +3/+3 bonus provided by the card Giant Growth. This demonstrates how, by becoming part Wurm, the host creature is growing to an incredible size.  Granting the host Landfall has little to do with being a Wurm, however. Only a single Wurm, Belligerent Whiptail, possesses Landfall, so this is hardly a key part of the tribe's identity. Then again, this may all be over-analysis of a humorous mechanic from a supplemental set. The Host/Augment system is definitely exciting, and something similar may return in the upcoming set,  Ikoria: Land of Behemoths, in which players will be 'building their own monsters'. [4]

Magic the Gathering's two blue Wurms are both 1/1s and are both incredibly peculiar. The artwork of Water Wurm appears to depict a 'worm' rather than a 'wurm'. Its 1/1 stats also gives this impression. Warping Wurm, another 1/1, does depict a 'wurm', rather than a 'worm'. Its 1/1 stats are clarified by its flavour text, which states 'even wurms start out small'. The card phases in and out of play, accumulating +1/+1 counters as it does so. Warping Wurm uses the Phasing mechanic in a novel and unique manner, even if it is almost unplayably weak as a result.

Deckbuilding with Wurms

As a tribe, Wurms are unified by their their high power. Wurms can be combined effectively with many 'power-matters' cards, such as Colossal Majesty and Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma for good results. In a manner equal and opposite to crabs and toughness last week, the resulting deck would be more of a 'power-matters' deck than a Wurm tribal deck.

Symbiotic Wurm, Wurmcoil Engine, Worldspine Wurm and Penumbra Wurm have powerful abilities triggered by their deaths.  If a means can be found of repeating these effects, for example using Strionic Resonator or Teysa Karlov, then their owner's board can quickly grow out of control.

For Commander players looking to build a tribal deck, a legendary Wurm is available to lead the charge, inasmuch as Wurms are capable of charging. Grothama, All-Devouring certainly lives up to its tribe's reputation for size, being an imposing 10/8. Although, in many ways, Grothama is more of a pinata than a Wurm. Attacking creatures, whoever they belong to, can choose to fight Grothama. When Grothama dies, the player whose creatures killed the legendary Wurm then draw cards equal to the damage dealt to it. This ability, although incredibly unique, does not really synergise with other Wurms. Additionally Grothama's monogreen nature excludes several powerful Wurms of other colours, such as Ravager Wurm and Massacre Wurm.

Arbitrary Grades

Flavour: B

Most of this grade is based upon the fact that so many Wurms have excellent flavour text. The flavour text on many Wurm cards serves the simple purpose of conveying their enormous size, yet each does  so in a unique manner. Autochthon Wurm has been mentioned already, Endless Wurm finds a humorous means of conveying the same idea, 'Ages ago, a party of elves took cover to let one pass. They're still waiting'. Similarly, the description of Impervious Greatwurm boasts of its status as the game's strongest and largest creature by employing a single imposing sentence, 'The ultimate answer to intrigue and subtlety'.

Beyond flavour text, as has been mentioned above, Wurms convey their enormous size through having enormous stats. Life gain effects are used to show their voracious appetites and certain Wurms interact with the graveyard to demonstrate how they eat corpses. The only gripe which can be raised against the presentation of Wurms is that many of the Wurms who logically should possess Trample do not. Craw Wurm's flavour text mentions  'the horrible crashing sound it makes as it speeds through the forest.' In other words the creature literally crushes all of the trees in its path, yet for some reason it cannot do the same to enemy creatures. This is a minor gripe, however, and Wurms are overall accurately portrayed as the imposing serpentine giants that they are.

Viability: D

Some Wurms have graveyard synergies, but not really enough to construct a Wurm/graveyard deck. Some Wurms help you gain life, but not really enough for a Wurm/Lifelink deck. Ultimatley the biggest draw of Wurms is their power, so a 'power-matters' deck may fit them well. Though there are a few truly excellent Wurms, who will receive their dues below, many members of the tribe are unremarkable beyond their high stats, which are often accompanied by a high mana cost.

Best and Worst Wurms:

Most of you probably knew from the moment that you opened this article that Wurmcoil Engine would be deemed the best Wurm. Able to slip easily into decks of any colour, due to being colourless, Wurmcoil Engine brings an incredible amount of value to the board. A 6/6 with Lifelink and Deathtouch, which then splits into two tokens upon its death, the Engine is hard to remove and is almost certain to impact any game it's played in. Massacre Wurm deserves mention as well, as an EDH staple that sweeps opponents boards clean of  weaker creatures, whilst also being a threat in its own right. If Worldspine Wurm can be cheated out, to circumvent its prohibitive mana cost, it is sure to give headaches to opponents with no way of  removing it without placing it in the graveyard 

At the other end of the spectrum, Argothian Wurm and Tempting Wurm are not only the weakest Wurms, but are amongst the weakest cards in the game. As a 5/5 for only 2 mana, Tempting Wurm may indeed appear tempting at first, however, its charm quickly dissipates as it allows each of your opponents to play the majority of their hand cost free. Argothian Wurm also appears powerful at first glance, being a 4 mana 6/6 with Trample. Unfortunatley, the Wurm can immediately be sent to the top of your library if any player sacrifices a land. This effectively ensures that you will have dead draws for the rest of the game, as you will just be drawing and redrawing the Wurm continuously as it enters and exits play.

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[1] The flavour text of Streetbreaker Wurm offers a fascinating insight into Ravnican society and the interplay between the guilds. 'The Orzhov run a construction unit whose only business is rebuilding the wreckage left in the wake of wurms. When business is slow, they pay Golgari carnomancers to lure the wurms to the surface'. This demonstrates how the Orzhov and Golgari profit from the destruction wrought by the Gruul.

[2] https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/dominaria-buy-box-pre-order-promotion-2018-03-21

[3] https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/making-magic/stories-dominaria-part-3-2018-04-30

[4] https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Ikoria:_Lair_of_Behemoths

Unusual Tribes 3: Crabs and Homarids

Intro

Welcome to another installment of Unusual Tribes, a series which analyses the flavour and mechanics of niche Magic the Gathering creature types. Thanks to the user ‘bristlybits’ on Reddit for suggesting crabs as a tribe. Given the small number of crabs in Magic, as a bonus, it seemed appropriate to also discuss Homarids in the same piece. Homarids are a race of vaguely humanoid crustaceans so it seemed appropriate to discuss them alongside crabs.

Starting with Giant Crab, printed in Tempest in 1997, 26 crabs have been put onto Magic the Gathering cards. A 27^th crab, Shorecomber Crab, also exists as part of Magic the Gathering Arena’s tutorial experience, but cannot be collected either physically or digitally. Crabs exist mostly in blue due to their aquatic habitat rather than any association with blue’s ideology of pursuing intellectual advancement. There is a single white/blue crab, Riptide Crab, which was created as a part of Invasion block’s multicolour theme.  There are also several crabs in green/blue, all of which are the creations of the Simic Combine, being mutants spliced together between crabs and other animals. Growth-Chamber Guardian is the only non-blue crab. His green identity reflects both his Simic allegiance, as well as the fact that he is an elf/crab hybrid. Drownyard Behemoth and Vexing Scuttler are colourless, due to being Eldrazi, but can be summoned at a lower cost by using blue mana and sacrificing a creature using their Emerge ability.

Homarids, meanwhile, were introduced three years prior to crab in 1994 with the set Fallen Empires.  Fallen Empires was an early attempt at a tribal set. Interestingly each colour featured two different tribes who were described as rivals, fighting over scarce resources in order to prepare for Dominaria’s approaching ice age. For example, whilst elves and thallids were green’s tribes, Homarids and merfolk were the feuding factions of blue. Only 7 Homarids exist, 4 of whom were printed in Fallen Empires. These 4 were followed by 3 more, sporadically introduced over the course of future sets. Viscerid Drone was printed in Alliances in 1996. Viscerids being, ‘an advanced, evolved form of Homarids’, though still bearing the same creature type.[1] Another Viscerid, Viscerid Deepwalker, was printed in Ice Age. Finally, Homarid Explorer was printed in Dominaria.

Homarid children are referred to as Camarids. Like Saprolings, no cards bearing the Camarid creature type exist. Camarid tokens can be created using either Homarid Spawning Bed or Sarpadian Empires, Vol.VII  if you have no objection to employing child soldiers by summoning literal crab babies to fight for you. A return to the Homarids’ home plane of Dominaria seems likely given the incredible success of the previous set located there, coupled with the fact that Dominaria was the first plane of the multiverse Magic ever explored. Whether we shall be seeing Homarids, Viscerids and Camarids there is less certain, however. As for crabs, they will likely be making infrequent, but consistent, appearances throughout the sets of the future.

The flavour of crabs

The flavour of crabs is often simple, but clear. Many crabs allow you to draw a card once they die.  Though typically blue cards reflect card draw as the acquisition of knowledge, or a newly gained insight into a situation, crabby card draw is a different kettle of fish. The flavour text of Purple-Crystal Crab makes this clear, ‘A precious shell without, a delicious taste within’. The card drawn, when Purple-Crystal Crab dies represents the player consuming meat from the cadaver of their crabby companion once they have died for their cause. 

The blue/white Riptide Crab, like many cards from the Invasion block, is an archetypal demonstration of what a two-colour card can do.  Its blue identity enables its card draw effect, whilst the splash of white enables Riptide Crab to possess vigilance (though the ability was not explicitly key worded on its original printing). Riptide Crab’s vigilant nature is reflected in its flavour text, ‘It sleeps with its claws open’.

Crabs typically have greater toughness than power to reflect their firm chitinous exoskeletons. Of the 26 crabs printed, 15 have greater toughness than power, often by a significant margin. For instance, Fortress Crab has only a single power, but 6 toughness. 10 crabs have equal power and toughness, and only a single crab, Shambleshark (which as its name would imply is more shark than crab), has greater power than toughness.

Horseshoe Crab is one of the most notable crabs printed in Magic. Based upon a real animal, which also bears the name horseshoe crab despite being an arthropod rather than a crab, Horseshoe Crab has been the centrepiece of combo decks ever since its original printing in Urza’s Saga. Horseshoe Crab has the ability to untap itself for a single blue mana. By equipping it with anything that allows it to ping opponents and their creatures (such as Hermetic Study) along with granting it Deathtouch (such as through Basilisk Collar) it is transformed into a crusty machine gun. Once suitably armed you can pour mana into your little gatling horseshoe to tear down the opponent’s board, and chip away at their life total. Everybody’s favourite horseshoe arthropod was paid homage in 2010 with the release of Rise of the Eldrazi. The enchantment Crab Umbra grants any creature Horseshoe Crab’s ability at a slightly higher cost.

A final point of trivia, though this is perhaps a bit of a reach, is that Thassa’s Emissary from Theros may represent Karkinos.  Karkinos is a crab from Greek mythology who attacked Heracles during his fight with the hydra, as well as the constellation which represents the star sign cancer.

The Hardy Hides of Homarids and Amassing an Army in Artwork

As only 7 Homarids exist there aren’t really enough of them to have a truly developed identity. Nevertheless, there is consistency binding the design of several Homarids. Homarid Warrior and Deep Spawn possess an early take on the ability Shroud, becoming untargetable at the cost of a single blue mana and tapping themselves down for several turns. This reflects the Homarid’s protecting themselves using their exoskeleton in order to avoid danger. [2] An improved version of this ability, which no longer required self-tapping, would later find its way onto Magic’s first crab, Giant Crab. King Crab, printed in Urza’s Legacy, would also take inspiration from its Homarid predecessors. Being a green hoser, just like Homarid Shaman had been before it.

A final point worth noting about Homarids is why the cards Homarid and Homarid Warrior possess several pieces of alternate artwork. Fallen Empires featured only 102 cards with which to tell the story of a fight between 10 distinct factions. As such several cards from each of the factions in the set received alternate pieces of artwork. This manages to communicate how Homarids, and their counterparts, are populous and diverse tribes despite the limited number of cards available to portray them in their debut set.

Deckbuilding

Regrettably neither crabs nor Homarids have received much in the way of tribal support. Neither tribe has a lord, excluding the Mystery Booster Playtest card Khod, Etlan Shiis Envoy which is unfortunately illegal in every format.

Due to many crabs having high toughness, one possible means of brewing a deck with them is to make use of cards such as Assault Formation or High Alert to switch their power and toughness and transform them into aggressive threats. Such a deck would, however, be more of a ‘high-toughness matters’ themed deck than a crab themed one.

As mentioned above, it is perfectly possible to build a functional combo deck around Horseshoe Crab. Hedron Crab, printed in Worldwake, is also a highly effective mill card which can be combined with Scapeshift to chuck huge swathes of your opponent’s deck into the graveyard in a single swing, as well as gradually through their library as the game progresses. Putting Magic the Gathering’s other two milling crustaceans Iceberg Cancrix and Homarid Explorer in such a deck, though an excellent show of solidarity between Magic’s two crabfolk tribes, is far from recommended.

Arbitrary Grades

Crabs

Flavour: C

The flavour of crab cards is clear, yet never particularly complex. They are sturdy, and thus have high toughness. Their meat is tasty, thus enabling card draw when they die. Mechanics such as Evolve and Adapt also reflect how the crabs of the Simic Combine are constantly undergoing mutations. The effects of crabs are perhaps unexciting, but they are consistent and it is generally apparent what they are trying to convey

Viability: C-

Though viable decks can be built featuring crabs, such as the aforementioned Horseshoe Crab and Hedron Crab engines, actually building a crab tribal deck is, at least at present, a challenging task. Given that bears recently received a lord in Ayula, Queen Among Bears perhaps the day is not so far off that crabs will receive the same treatment and become more usable collectively, even if only marginally.

Best and worst cards:

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that they have already been praised several times throughout this article, Horseshoe Crab and Hedron Crab are possibly the best and most played members of the tribe. Growth-Chamber Guardian is also worthy of a mention. Its low cost, coupled with its ability to buff itself, whilst fetching more Growth-Chamber Guardians from the library, makes it an intimidating threat whether it is brought out in the early or late game. Armored Cancrix is possibly the weakest crab. It is strictly worse than Wishcoin Crab, costing one extra mana for the same stats, yet it isn’t remarkably bad, being merely an overcosted vanilla creature.

Homarids

Flavour: D

Given the incredibly small number of Homarids in the game, assigning any rating here is even more arbitrary than usual. The use of a shroud-like effect to demonstrate their tough exoskeletons is innovative for its time. It is slightly uncertain why Homarid Explorer mills cards from the opponent’s library. Perhaps it reflects how the flavour text describes the explorer ‘raiding coastal settlements for supplies’. With this exception most Homarids have clear, if simple, effects. They would have qualified for at least a C were it not for one complaint. The splitting of the tribe into Homarids, Viscerids and Camarids seems unnecessary. In what way have Viscerid ‘evolved’ from their predecessors? Why do young Homarid’s need to have a different creature type from their elders? This keeps the tribe at a D, though this low rating is handed out with an almost heavy heart. The idea of a tribe of ‘crabfolk’ is conceptually interesting, and it would be nice to see them receive greater focus in the future.

Viability: F

Don’t build a Homarid tribal deck!  The fact that there are only 7 of them makes the task essentially impossible even in freeform formats like Commander. Furthermore, none of the 7 cards have any real synergy when played together, nor are any of them individually powerful.

Best and worst cards: The card Homarid itself is possibly the worst of its tribe. A 3 mana 2/2, which enters play as a 1/1 and briefly buffs itself into becoming a 3/3 several turns later. Viscerid Drone is possibly the best of its kind, for as much as that is worth. At the cost of sacrificing a swamp and another creature, Viscerid Drone destroys a single creature.  A bad removal effect to be sure, but a removal effect nonetheless.

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[1] https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/arcana/homarid-armor-2002-04-18
[2] Reddit user 'sanctaphrax' pointed out how Homarid untargetability could instead represent them submerging themselves beneath the waves to avoid danger. This interpretation makes a lot of sense, Dive Down from Ixalan grants hexproof, which also links diving deep underwater to becoming untargetable. My thanks to sanctaphrax for sharing this interpretation, and I felt I should mention it here.