Brushwagg
| Brushwagg | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Creature Type | |
| (Subtype for creature/kindred cards) | |
| Beeble Scale | 8[1] |
| Statistics |
4 cards
as of Modern Horizons 3 100% |
| Scryfall Search | |
| type:"Brushwagg" | |
Brushwagg is a green creature type that was first used in black border for the card Brushwagg in Mirage.
Description
A Brushwagg is an animal of varying size, which looks like a heap of animated kindling. Its body is covered in twigs which make a characteristic noise when it moves.
History
The subtype survived the Grand Creature Type Update. Almighty Brushwagg would much later be printed in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths.
Another Brushwagg appeared as a test card in the Mystery Booster set (Interplanar Brushwagg).
A creature type was needed to be excluded to prevent the Unfinity card Embiggen from giving Changelings a one-hit-kill spell; for maximum comedy, Mark Rosewater suggested Brushwagg.[2] In 2024, additional Brushwaggs were added with Outlaws of Thunder Junction and Modern Horizons 3.
Storyline
Dominaria
The brushwaggs near the Mtenda Plains in Jamuraa are large animals, nearly large enough to fill a room in a hut. They are harmless creatures that eat flowers and banyan shoots, as well as briarbugs (which also plague them). When threatened, they ball up inside their brambles to roll away when threatened by predators, such as goats.[3]
| “ | Defiantly, the young cyclops popped the brushwagg into his mouth. His cheeks suddenly puffed, his eye bulged, and he was forced to agree with his elder | ” |
—Afari, Tales | ||
Relationship to humans
Valued for their pacifism and literacy, brushwaggs are happily employed by humans as messengers.[3] A brushwagg pawing a message in the dirt is considered a friendly greeting from that message's sender. While able to scrawl entire messages of considerable length, the effectiveness of their writing is severely limited by poor spelling and primitive articulation of thoughts, as shown in the following communication from a brushwagg to Fola:[4]
| “ | I gO meeT IT. IT with two-POinTs. I Do MESAGE MESAGE MEsagE. It thumP ME. MEMEMEMEME. No more Mesage. Ow! OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW. Go bacK oR Get ThumpEd. BrushWAGg no diE. | ” |
Ikoria
Odd little brushwaggs are also found on Ikoria. The small but tough hedgehog-like creatures are usually given a wide berth by bigger monsters. It's able to grow huge and mighty but spends most of its time as small as a hedgehog.[5]
Thunder Junction
On Thunder Junction, brushwaggs can be found masquerading as tumbleweed.
References
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 31, 2019). "Where is Brushwagg on the Beeble scale?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 28, 2022). "Why does Embiggen exclude Brushwaggs?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ a b Wolfgang Baur, Kij Johnson, Michael G. Ryan, Mike Selinker, and Teeuwynn (1997). Mirage: Oasis. "Fola's Story". "Hard Feelings". Archived on 1 May 1997.
- ↑ Wolfgang Baur, Kij Johnson, Michael G. Ryan, Mike Selinker, and Teeuwynn (1997). Mirage: Oasis. "Fola's Story". "Too Stupid for Civility". Archived on 1 May 1997.
- ↑ Kendall Pepple (May 14, 2020). "Monsters of Ikoria Art Descriptions". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
