Saddle
| Saddle | |
|---|---|
| Keyword Ability | |
| Type | Activated |
| Introduced | Outlaws of Thunder Junction |
| Last used | Outlaws of Thunder Junction |
| Reminder Text | Saddle N (Tap any number of other creatures you control with total power N or more: This Mount becomes saddled until end of turn. Saddle only as a sorcery.) |
| Statistics |
17 cards
As of Outlaws of Thunder Junction 23.5%  5.9%  5.9%  17.6%  29.4%  11.8%  5.9% |
| Scryfall Search | |
| keyword:"Saddle" | |
Saddle is a keyword ability introduced in Outlaws of Thunder Junction.[1] It only appears on cards with the Mount creature type.[2]
Description
Saddle was designed to mirror the common practice of cowboys riding an animal (such as a horse), which is girthed with a padded and leather-covered seat. On Thunder Junction, the range of animals that can be saddled is much wider. here's no real connection between Mounts and saddle other than a flavorful one. If a Mount becomes some other creature type, it will still have saddle, and non-Mounts can gain saddle if effects allow them to do so.
Saddle is an activated ability that you activate as a sorcery — meaning during your main phase while the stack is empty. Similar to the Crew ability, Saddle is activated by tapping any number of creatures you control with total power equal to or greater than the saddle value N. Creatures with saddle, unlike Vehicles, can attack and block like a regular creature while unsaddled, but they have powerful abilities that only trigger when they attack while saddled.
As the saddle ability resolves, the Mount becomes saddled until end of turn. This doesn't inherently mean anything, but another ability on the card will somehow refer to the Mount being saddled.
The flavor of Saddle is that the rider is now on the mount, and the combination makes them better.[3]
Mount / Saddle is not going straight to evergreen, but R&D is exploring how often they want to use it.[4]
Rules
Rulings
- "Saddle N" means "Tap any number of other untapped creatures you control with total power N or greater: This permanent becomes saddled until end of turn. Activate only as a sorcery."[5]
- "Saddled" isn't an ability that a creature has. It's just something true about that creature. It won't stop being saddled until the turn ends or it leaves the battlefield.
- Creatures with saddle can attack or block as normal even if they aren't saddled.
- If a permanent becomes a copy of a saddled Mount, the copy won't be saddled.
- You may activate a permanent's saddle ability even if that permanent is already saddled.
- An ability that triggers when a creature "attacks while saddled" will trigger only if that creature was saddled when it was declared as an attacker.
Examples
Example
Drover Grizzly 
Creature — Bear Mount
4/2
Whenever Drover Grizzly attacks while saddled, creatures you control gain trample until end of turn
Saddle 1 (Tap any number of other creatures you control with total power 1 or more: This Mount becomes saddled until end of turn. Saddle only as a sorcery.)
Trivia
- Horsemanship and Saddle are mechanically unrelated, despite being flavorfuly linked.
References
- ↑ Matt Tabak (March 26, 2024). "Outlaws of Thunder Junction Mechanics". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 1, 2024). "Outlaw of the Land, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 31, 2024). "Why does saddle make the mount better instead of making the rider better?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 27, 2024). "Is Mount/Saddle going straight to evergreen/deciduous like vehicles?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Eric Levine (April 5, 2024). "Outlaws of Thunder Junction Release Notes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.