Star creature
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Nickname Even when fate is already written, there’s always time to change the names.
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| Star creature | |
|---|---|
| Mechanic | |
| Introduced | Alpha |
| Last used | Evergreen |
| Reminder Text |
This creature's power and toughness are each equal to ... This creature's power is equal to ... This creature's toughness is equal to ... |
| Scryfall Statistics | |
Star creatures have a star (* or ★) for power and/or toughness.
These cards have a characteristic-defining ability that defines these values based on some game state and sometimes add a fixed number. These are true in all zones. While a vast majority of these abilities are on creatures, it is allowed for Vehicles and Spacecrafts to have them.
Multiple different mechanical concepts are based on this, which makes this an overall extremely varied concept.
Mechanical concepts
Warlord
Warlord is a slang term used by Magic R&D to describe creatures the following ability: "This creature's power and toughness is equal to the number of creatures you control."[1]
This ability started in red with Keldon Warlord in Alpha. R&D later moved it into green, as green is the color of creatures-matters. The ability then got moved into white because white is the army color that likes giving rewards for having lots of little creatures. The ability is still done a little in green, but it's primary in white these days. The ability also dropped from Rare to Common for the vanilla version. The ability overall tends to be supplemented with another, pushing it to uncommon.
Shanna, Sisay's Legacy has a different template for this ability.
Maro ability
The Maro ability is a slang term used by Magic R&D to describe the ability that a creature's power and toughness are equal to the number of cards in its controllers hand.[1] This ability is nicknamed after the first creature to have it: Maro from Mirage. In turn, this card was named after Mark Rosewater, the head designer of Magic R&D.
The ability is primary in blue and has become secondary in green. Blue is the color of knowledge and green is the color of wisdom, so those are the two colors that like to care about what you "know".[1][2]
The Saviors of Kamigawa expansion featured a cycle of "Maros": Kiyomaro, First to Stand, Soramaro, First to Dream, Kagemaro, First to Suffer, Adamaro, First to Desire, and Masumaro, First to Live.
Variants
Permanents
Permanents you control
Permanents on the battlefield
| P/T equal to number of | Example |
|---|---|
| Snow permanents | Rimefeather Owl |
| Creatures | Altar Golem |
| Creatures with shadow | Dauthi Warlord |
| Creatures named Plague Rats | Plague Rats |
| Creatures of the chosen type | Caller of the Hunt |
| Green creatures | An-Havva Constable |
| Red creatures | Yavimaya Kavu |
| Face-down creatures | Ixidron |
| Other Rats | Pestilence Rats |
| Goblins | Reckless One |
| Clerics | Doubtless One |
| Elves | Heedless One |
| Illusions | Krovikan Mist |
| Wizards | Nameless One |
| Forests | Coiling Woodworm |
Permanents your opponents controls
| P/T equal to number of | Example |
|---|---|
| Permanents of chosen color | Chameleon Spirit |
| Swamps | Angry Mob |
| Artifacts | Gaea's Avenger |
| Nonbasic lands | Wilderness Elemental |
Permanents target opponent controls
| P/T equal to number of | Example |
|---|---|
| Creatures | Lost Order of Jarkeld |
| Nonbasic lands | Skyshroud War Beast |
| Tapped lands | Pallimud |
Graveyards (Lhurgoyf ability)
Your graveyard
| P/T equal to number of | Example |
|---|---|
| Cards | Apocalypse Demon |
| Permanent cards | Souls of the Lost |
| Creature cards | Urborg Lhurgoyf |
| Land cards | Uurg, Spawn of Turg |
| Instant and sorcery cards | Enigma Drake |
| Card types among cards | Nethergoyf |
| Black mana symbols in the mana costs of cards | Umbra Stalker |
| Greatest mana value among cards | Monstrous War-Leech |
| Cards with flavor text | Graveyard Busybody ( )
|
Your opponents' graveyards
| P/T equal to number of | Example |
|---|---|
| Cards | Consuming Aberration |
| Nonbasic land cards | Detritivore |
| Card types among cards | Nighthawk Scavenger |
Chosen player's graveyard
| P/T equal to number of | Example |
|---|---|
| Cards | Sewer Nemesis |
| Green creature cards | Haunting Apparition |
All graveyards
| P/T equal to number of | Example |
|---|---|
| Cards | Lord of Extinction |
| Creature cards | Mortivore |
| Land cards | Terravore |
| Enchantment cards | Cantivore |
| Instant cards | Cognivore |
| Sorcery cards | Magnivore |
| Artifact cards | Slag Fiend |
| Card types among cards | Tarmogoyf |
Hands (Maro ability)
| P/T equal to number of | Example |
|---|---|
| Cards in your hand | Maro |
| Cards in all players' hands | Multani, Maro-Sorcerer |
| Cards in the chosen player’s hand | Entropic Specter |
| Cards in the hand of the opponent with the most cards in hand | Adamaro, First to Desire |
Devotion
| P/T equal to your devotion to | Example |
|---|---|
| White | Daxos, Blessed by the Sun |
| Blue | Callaphe, Beloved of the Sea |
| Black | Tymaret, Chosen from Death |
| Red | Anax, Hardened in the Forge |
| Green | Renata, Called to the Hunt |
Life
| P/T equal to | Example |
|---|---|
| Your life total | Serra Avatar |
| The life paid as it entered | Minion of the Wastes |
| 20 minus the highest life total among players | Scourge of the Skyclaves |
| Half the highest life total among your opponents, rounded up | Malignus |
| Your life total minus the life total of an opponent with the most life | Roiling Horror |
Exiled or sacrificed by the creature
| P/T equal to | Example |
|---|---|
| The exiled card's mana value | Living Lore |
| Greatest mana value among cards exiled | Bell Borca, Spectral Sergeant |
| The number of cards exiled | Unlicensed Hearse |
| The number of colors among the exiled cards | Sunbird Effigy |
| Total power of the exiled cards | Wretched Bonemass |
| Total power/toughness of the exiled cards | Sutured Ghoul |
| Forests sacrificed | Wood Elemental |
Counters
| P/T equal to the number of | Example |
|---|---|
| +1/+1 counters on creatures you control | Fungal Behemoth |
| Age counters on it (times 2) | Mwonvuli Ooze |
| Fade counters on it | Rusting Golem |
| Time counters on it | Tidewalker |
| Oil counters on it (times 2) | Darksteel Hydra |
Other conditions
| P/T equal to (the number of) | Example |
|---|---|
| Cards you've drawn this turn | Duelist of the Mind |
| The last chosen number (between 0 and 7)/7 minus that number | Shapeshifter |
| Instant and sorcery cards you own in exile and in your graveyard | Crackling Drake |
| Elf cards you control or in your graveyard | Abomination of Llanowar |
| Zombie cards on the battlefield or in all graveyards | Soulless One |
| Permanent cards with an art sticker you control or in your graveyard | Roxi, Publicist to the Stars ()
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| The current hour, using the twelve-hour system | Elvish House Party ()
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| Your height in feet/Your American shoe size (Round to the nearest ½.) | Avatar of Me ()
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References
- ↑ a b c Mark Rosewater (June 5, 2017). "Mechanical Color Pie 2017". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 18, 2021). "Mechanical Color Pie 2021 Changes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-10-18.