Creature pumping
| Creature pumping | |
|---|---|
| Mechanic | |
| Introduced | Alpha |
| Last used | Evergreen |
| Scryfall Statistics | |
Creature pumping is a slang term used by Magic R&D to describe spells or abilities that modify the power and/or toughness of creatures. Each color has its way to this,[1][2][3] and there is a wide difference between the applications depending on the card type the pump is on.
Pump effects on instants and flash spells are known as "combat tricks", often spells designed for Limited magic at common and uncommon that change the outcome of creature combat. Pump effects on Sorceries and Auras typically provide a permanent boost, creating a single large threat that dominates the board in exchange for being neutralized at card disadvantage. Occasionally, they offer temporary effects that accelerate damage over a turn or restore card parity. Abilities that pump other creatures on one's turn are sometimes known as "Assistance", used mainly to complicate blocking but not stall out attacking. It can be done through an activated ability, an attack trigger, or as an enter trigger. Creatures with pumping abilities vary; some use it to push damage, some use threat of activation, and some have it as a form of texture that changes with the board state.
Equipment has the full range of positive pump effects alongside one or two negative toughness variants. No equipment reduces power.
+N/+N
All colors have access to +N/+N to some extent. Addition of +1/+1 counters is across all colors and has similar design space to attaching an Aura.
White
White's pumping by both instants and auras are usually +2/+2 or smaller, often granting an ability as well. The one exception for white is that it can get larger pumps if the effect is restricted to blockers, or requires counting of resources (Plains or creatures). Some very lopsided toughness pumps (i.e. Aegis of the Heavens) fall into the design space of +N/+0 and "prevent all damage".
Blue
Blue's auras are small pump effects per mana spent, with flying being the most common ability granted. Blue doesn't usually get instants to do this, relying on transformation stat-changing to do this. It has started getting temporary evasion spells that boost power and toughness as a surprise way to end games.
Black
Black is primary in straightforward pumping by activation costs on creatures. This is mostly seen on Shades and usually requires black mana. Black will occasionally get smaller buffs by instants, usually with an ability added. Black auras are not usually in this category; those that are give small boosts with the primary use of the ability they gain.
Red
Red has several cheap Auras that give +2/+2 and something else, either a small bonus at more expensive costs or a drawback at cheaper costs. Red's instants normally give low toughness boosts that make it hard to save the creature defensively, though aggressively they have higher toughness boosts (Run Amok); for texture, it is more likely they are first-strike tricks with +N/+0.
Green
Green is secondary in straightforward pumping by activation costs on creatures. These often are unlimited, but usually only when the activation cost is high enough that multiple activations don't happen until the late game. Green is primary in one-off pumping, the almost-exclusive Rootwalla ability. Green's instants are the best on rate, like the iconic Giant Growth, and generally the only color to give +4/+4 or higher. Smaller pumps are used with fight spells, letting smaller creatures fight on-curve more often. Green is the one color that regularly grants +3/+3 and above on auras, but rarely gives other abilities. Green has the most "flash auras" or the like, giving sizable and permanent pumps at instant speed.
+N/+0
+N/+0 is largely black or red.
On creatures
This ability, as a repeatable activation, is what is referred to as "firebreathing." It's primarily seen on red creatures. White and green tend to get one-time upgrades of usually +1/+0, as a way to push smaller creatures against larger blockers.
On spells
Black and red are the two colors that tend to pump power as a spell without also pumping toughness. To make them useful in combat, Black either regenerates, grants indestructible, or something similar, while Red grants first or double strike. White does it less commonly as a combat trick, but usually never more than +2/+0, alongside a cantrip or gaining indestructible; both white and red share the "Trumpet Blast" effect, with white granting toughness at higher costs.
A newer class of trick (starting with Otherworldly Outburst in Eldritch Moon) that is only +X/+0 is one where the caster gets a token or equivalent when the creature dies, designed to trade up against bigger creatures and generate tempo, as the token is often cheap for the spell's cost but won't appear unless the target dies. Auto-equipping equipment with flash is similar, but with the equipment being the bonus that doesn't require a dead creature.
On auras
As Auras are already a significant liability, no-toughness auras are often a hard sell, so this category is sparse in modern design. Red is the color most often to have just power-pumping Auras (including "firebreathing" Auras). Other colors rarely use this design; those that do grant evasion.
+N/-N
Like +N/+0, this is largely red and black.
On creatures
Black and Red use this on occasion to play up their reckless side. It was once associated with flowstone creatures.
Blue once used this on Elementals and Shapeshifters, but now has returned to having it on any sort of creature; while once abandoned due to the aggressive potential, it has returned on average creatures with higher toughness to give them some common better combat potential.
On spells
As this is mostly used as a kill spell, the ability resides mostly in black.
On auras
These tend to be flavored as "push your luck" cards that can double as creature kill. Black will go up to -3 on the toughness, whereas red tends to stop at -2. Blue used to have some "make me a shapeshifter" flavored Auras, but has moved away from that.[3] Again, with Auras being a risk, negative-toughness Auras are rare, buoyed only by the fact that it has slightly more flexibility as a kill spell. Split-use auras favor having a clause that changes between +N/+N and -N/-N for certain targets rather than a single +N/-N ability.
+0/+N and -N/+N
White, on rare occasions, will have an activation that uses these defensively. -N/+N has largely been phased out by R&D because it tends to clog up the board; few instants or Auras perform this effect nowadays. +0/+N effects are now used to enable small-creature attackers by invalidating low-power blockers.
Green also +0/+N this on occasion with the same design intent for attackers. Some number of reach-granting instants give no power, and two fight cards gives only toughness rather than also power (Warbriar Blessing and Meltstrider's Resolve).
This is also used in blue on Elementals and Shapeshifters, often on the same cards with +N/-N. It also has it on protective spells, sometimes with hexproof.
Holy armor ability
The "Holy Armor ability", nicknamed "buttbreathing" or "butt-pumping"[4], is the defensive counterpart of Firebreathing, where the creature has unbound activated ability that gives +0/+1 or some multiple of it. It was first printed on the eponymous card costing 
, as well as on Granite Gargoyle with "
: This creature gets +0/+1 until end of turn".
The ability is rare in the modern decades as it tends to encourage both not attacking and not casting spells, the static gameplay of which was not considered a problem until later design eras. The last straight application of the Holy Armor ability was on Foundry Champion in 2013, with Assault Formation mixing it with Backbone and Marble Gargoyle being a Granite Gargoyle callback.
Most Holy Armor costs require , with two with and one with 
activation costs.
-N/-N
Almost entirely relegated to black creature removal, few creatures inflict this on themselves. Black gets this in many forms; some are small or inefficient enough to act only as combat tricks, but others are large enough to count as direct kill spells. Almost no cards perform -0/-N in modern Magic.
-1/-1 counters are extended options for red and black, but the usage of them is rare as-is. Other colors have various designs using the counter as a resource.
-N/-0
In blue, this is shrinking its target. Instants typically are paired with some form of scry effect or cantrip due to the low impact; blue Auras are quasi-removal effects, with all the associated downsides attached. However, an unintended combo can happen with power/toughness switcher effects, like Twisted Image, that can give blue a graveyard-sending removal it's not supposed to have; switching has become extremely rare as a consequence.
In black, it's usually some form of torture. With all its creature interaction, it tends not to need it as a spell. As for auras, Morgul-Knife Wound and Withercrown reduce power and add a bleeding effect and Cast into Darkness prevents blocking. Four creatures give themselves -N/-0 in exchange for some form of evasion. Depressurize is a new design that aligns it with Black's Reave Soul effects.
Team pumping
White is the color most likely to pump its team, most often with +1/+1, but it will occasionally go up to +2/+2. Green's team pump starts at +2/+2 and often also adds trample. Team pump that only pumps power is most often done in red, usually affecting attacking creatures.
See also
References
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (May 18, 2015). "Modern Mailbag". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 18, 2021). "Mechanical Color Pie 2021". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (October 18, 2021). "Mechanical Color Pie 2021 Changes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-10-18.
- ↑ Reverse Firebreathing. Retrieved on 2025-07-12.