Boon

Boon
Card Type
Statistics	13 Boon creation cards 46.2% 7.7% 15.4% 15.4% 7.7% 7.7% 3 One-time boon creation cards 66.7% 33.3%
Scryfall Search
o:"a boon"

Not to be confused with Boon (slang).

A boon is a designed-for-digital, MTG Arena-specific marker introduced in Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate that represents a delayed trigger.

Description

A boon is created by some cards to set up an effect, much like a delayed triggered ability, but the boon is phrased as a separate entity with the trigger on it, similar to an emblem. Once the boon triggers, it disappears.

Boons are used for triggers that could be delayed over many turns, such as a player casting their next creature spell. The software takes care of tracking this, so each boon acts as a reminder of what triggers are active. In contrast, typical triggered abilities either occur immediately or are delayed at most until the player's next turn, which requires less long-term memory by players.

History

Before boons were introduced, a few digital cards used similar phrasing but did not attribute the text to a boon, such as Tenacious Pup or Molten Impact. These simply used triggered abilities delayed longer than usual.

Boons were first introduced on ten cards in Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate, to replace some of the mechanics on reimagined cards.

Boons can potentially be used more than once, but no yet existing card does so.

Underbridge Warlock from Alchemy: Eldraine is the first card to check if a player has a boon.

Rules

Boons aren't part of the Comprehensive Rules. They operate according to the programmed rules of Magic: The Gathering Arena.

One-time boon

Prior to Alchemy: Eldraine, all boons had an ability triggering upon some variant of "When you cast your next creature spell". Newer boons that trigger only once are called one-time boons instead.

Example

Example 1

Arcane Archery
Instant
Target creature get +3/+3 and gains reach and trample until end of turn. You get a boon with "When you cast your next creature spell, that creature enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter, reach counter, and trample counter on it."

Example 2

Underbridge Warlock
Creature — Ogre Warlock
5/4
Deathtouch
When Underbridge Warlock enters the battlefield, you get a one-time boon with "At the begining of your end step, if three or more creatures died this turn, each opponent loses 5 life and you gain 5 life."
At the beginning of your end step, if you have a boon, you mill three cards, draw a card, and lose 2 life.