Mystery Booster/Test cards

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Mystery Booster
 
Test cards
 
Retail Edition
 
Test card

The Convention Edition packs of the Mystery Booster contain a pretend "playtest card". They are referred to as test cards on the cards themselves.

Description

The test cards feature black and white card faces that look like they have been stickered on cards with a regular card frame of the appropriate color. The card names are pretended funny placeholders, and the cards lack Collector numbers and artist credits (the "temporary" illustrations are created by various R&D members[1] ). Test cards are not meant for Constructed play, but may be used in Chaos Draft. There is a total of 121 test cards (one print sheet[2]).

Test cards are not considered to be “real” cards, not even considered silver-bordered. They were more meant as entertainment than as game pieces.[3][4] The test cards haven't undergone rules scrutiny, and Play Design hasn't tested them rigorously for balance.[5]

Rulings

  • Playtest cards aren't legal for play in any tournament format other than Mystery Booster Limited formats.
  • Playtest cards use a modified version of game symbols, such as {T} and {W}. These modified symbols should be treated as the standard symbols during play.
  • Playtest cards often use "CARDNAME" in place of the card's name. This follows the same rules as an object referring to itself by name.
  • For many playtest cards, you'll need to make a generous assumption that basic game rules will be updated to allow them to work.

Themes and mechanics

The test cards explore various themes and mechanics. This is similar to how Future Sight tested out new mechanics that later appeared in regular sets. Some were nods to things already coming to print (Enchantmentize reprinted three months later as One with the Stars), while some are more nebulous in their influence (Graveyard Dig seems to have inspired Cleave, two years later).

Examples of new or revisited themes are turn matters, games matter, hand size matters, quadrupling, card tokens (land tokens, enchantment tokens, sorcery tokens), the plot booster and the Whammy deck.

New mechanics are: Aggressive, Bank, Challenge, Enchantment land, Firstest strike, Four-faced, Gunk, Interplanar, Keyword counters, Kinfall, Landship, Legacy, manabond counters, Megalegendary, Motivate, Ransom, Reflect, Requirement, Reverse miracle, Scrycast, Spark, Spellmorph, Tasty, Token cards, Underdog and Upgrade.

Returning

Returning mechanics (some with new twists) are Annihilator, Arcane, Buyback, cards from outside of the game, Flagbearer, Haunt, Land creatures, Planeswalk, Poison, Storm, Banding and Vanguard.

Named

Mill and Fizzle are used as terms on cards for the first time.

Card types

Cloud is a new Basic land type. Abian and Duck are new planeswalker types. Locus is used as a creature type, instead of as a land type. Alien, Aven, Beholder, Half and Phyrexian are new creature types. Lobster is used for the first time as a creature type on a printed card. Dog, Gorilla and Mammoth are reintroduced. Key is a new artifact type. Elemental is a new type (not to be confused with the Elemental creature subtype).

Two cards feature an Instant Creature, one of which also can turn other creatures into Instant Creatures as well.

Card list

Card name Color Stickered on Notes Artist
Banding Sliver White mana Ajani's Pridemate[6] Makes fun of the complicated rules for Banding, by filling the card's text box with reminder text. Alicia Mickes
Baneslayer Aspirant White mana Ajani's Pridemate First non-planeswalker to interact with emblems. Abilities refer to Baneslayer Angel Taylor Ingvarsson
Enroll in the Coalition White mana Hieromancer's Cage? Designates a player as a Flagbearer. Flavored after the Invasion block's Coalition. Chris Mooney
Five Kids in a Trenchcoat White mana Ajani's Pridemate A pop-culture cliche in which some children attempt to fool others into believing they're one adult. The first card to use the Citizen creature type, and the first card to count as multiple copies of itself. Emily Teng
Frontier Explorer White mana Ajani's Pridemate A Wish for Plains. A design alternative for a basic land token. Mary Josberger
Imaginary Friends White mana Aegis of the Heavens? Only playable in very specific combo decks, like Aristocrats or wide decks that have anthems. Hence the return of Arcane. Daniel Holt
Metagamer White mana Ajani's Pridemate Highlighting a Spike player type subset, that chooses their cards to counter decks that are popular in the metagame. Fransico O. Martin
Priority Avenger White mana Ajani's Pridemate Protects the active player's priority on their turn by limiting instants. Chris Haukap
Ruff, Underdog Champ White mana Lena, Selfless Champion References R&D's Dog versus Hound debate, foreshadowing the creature type update in Core Set 2021.[7] Introduces the Underdog mechanic, which effects overstep the boundary between games in a match. Seth Conley
Sarah's Wings White mana Revitalize A play On Serra's Wings. Grants Flying to a player, like Form of the Dragon's Moat clause. Sarah Keortge
Scaled Destruction White mana Cleansing Nova Defines small, medium and large creatures. Daniel Ketchum
Stack of Paperwork White mana Hieromancer's Cage Revives the pre-Magic 2010 rule that combat damage uses the stack. Hanspeter Ziegler
Wizened Arbiter White mana Ajani's Pridemate Wishes for white cards. First concepted by Scott Wilson during the Great Designer Search 3.[8][9][7] First card to remove a card entirely from the game. Kelly Hamilton
You're in Command White mana Cleansing Nova Enables a player to change any of their creatures into their Commander (even if it is non-Legendary). The first card to reference Commander tax. Cody Culp
Animate Spell Blue mana Psychic Corrosion An animating Aura that specifically targets sorceries and Instant spells on the stack. Effectively a counterspell that grants the countered spell's controller a creature. Not written on the card is the Animate Dead clause where the enchanted ability changes post-resolution. Allison Medwin
Biting Remark Blue mana Supreme Phantom First card with Scrycast, meaning it can be cast through a special cost (in this case, for free) if you Scry it. A ‘biting remark' is usually intended to hurt the person to whom the words are directed. Josh Thomas
Command the Chaff Blue mana Totally Lost A steal effect that reaches into the opponent's sideboard. Sideboard cards are mostly chaff. George Fan
Control Win Condition Blue mana Supreme Phantom A whale that grows bigger according to the number of turns its controller has played - as befitting a control win condition. The turn-counting mechanic would later be seen in the official designed-for-digital cards, like Sarkhan's Scorn. Sean Mayovsky
Do-over Blue mana Totally Lost Restarts a turn, especially useful on an opponent's turn - the reminder text concedes that hidden zones are to be "reconstruct[ed] as best you can". Madison Mosley
Enchantmentize Blue mana Psychic Corrosion An Aura that can turn a creature into an enchantment, but allow it to keep all its abilities. Essentially a reversal of the Theros Gods. Later printed in black-border as One With The Stars.[7] Rebecca On
Form of the Mulldrifter Blue mana Mulldrifter[7] A Kindred Enchantment that pokes fun at the other "Form of" cards, like Form of the Dragon, that can change all summoned creatures into a Mulldrifter. Notice that it doesn't describe the characteristics of Mulldrifter. George Fan
Innocuous Insect Blue mana Supreme Phantom First creature with Buyback - normally useless, but has a cast trigger associated with Eldrazi. It is an annoying Eldrazi Insect. Jehan Choo
Khod, Etlan Shiis Envoy Blue mana Sai, Master Thopterist A Lord for several underwater creature types including Homarids, Camarids (none exist), Cephalids and Nautilids and Merfolk, that can also change all lands into Islands. Notice that in the current timeline, there is no room for Homarids in Etlan Shiis. Dave Humpherys
Learned Learner Blue mana Supreme Phantom A creature that can tap to draw a card, as long as the player has a maximum hand size different than 7. Nick Southam
Loopy Lobster Blue mana Supreme Phantom First four-faced card (a Level up variant. First card to feature the Lobster creature type (the Unglued Rock Lobster only featured the type in Oracle). The Turians
Memory Bank Blue mana Divination Introduction of the Bank mechanic. This is a draw Spell that gets exiled after being cast but can be cast from exile during different games in the same match. Pete White
Recycla-bird Blue mana Supreme Phantom Introduction of flying counters that later were implemented in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths.[7] A permanent with a keyword counter on it gains that keyword. Kevin Yee
Squidnapper Blue mana Supreme Phantom Together with Frogkin Kidnapper, introduces the Ransom mechanic. An opponent's creature is taken under control by the kidnapper until a ransom cost has been paid. Jeff Carpenter
The Grand Tour Blue mana Totally Lost This card makes fun of mechanics like transform and flicker, where creatures are exiled and then immediately return to the battlefield. Pictured is Fblthp getting lost on Amonkhet, on Innistrad (the Helvault), Tarkir (Tomb of the Spirit Dragon), Rabiah (City of Brass) and on Dominaria (Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth). Ethan Fleischer
Time Sidewalk Blue mana Divination A Time Walk spell that, if it is in your opening hand, creates four Time Walk tokens and shuffles them into your deck. The cost of the card is four times that of the original card. The use of sorcery tokens bypasses the Reserved List restrictions. Steve Sunu
Truth or Dare Blue mana Divination A modal spell with Anchor words that keywords the Mill mechanic. Foreshadowing the implementation in Core Set 2021. Mollie Harms
Visitor from Planet Q Blue mana Supreme Phantom First creature with the Alien type and first Instant Creature, also turning all creatures with Flash into Instants, a hypothetical rules change that is considered too disruptive. Loots anytime a card with multiple card types are played. The Meadens
Blood Poet Black mana Walking Corpse? First creature with the Spark mechanic. Marsha Rivera
Bone Rattler Black mana Reassembling Skeleton A token creating creature that places the tokens in the graveyard instead of on the battlefield. The first time a creature token can go to the graveyard and stay there. The tokens are Reassembling Skeletons. Later revisited as Boneyard Aberration with the Conjure keyword.[7] Ira Humphrey
Buried Ogre Black mana Walking Corpse Poking fun at Reanimator decks, this card may start the game in the graveyard - as though it was Buried Alive. Dave Geyer
Celestine Cave Witch Black mana Walking Corpse Sacrifices insects to create curse enchantment tokens, and turns the type "curse" into a keyword ability. Maybe a predecessor to Roles, as predefined aura tokens Bonnie Gabriel
Chimney Goyf Black mana Banehound A Goyf that can make a target opponent topdeck a card from his hand. A fusion of Tarmogoyf (one of the best creatures) and Chimney Imp (cited as one of the worst) with Tarmogoyf's power/toughness and the Imp's mana cost and abilities with both creature types. Glenn Jones
Corrupted Key Black mana Wishclaw Talisman An artifact with an ability that is active when tapped, but has no way of tapping itself. Introduces the Key-subtype. Tom Wänerstrand
Cyclopean Titan Black mana Cyclopean Giant A creature that turns other lands into Swamps, and that can return to its owner's hand. Twice as big as Cyclopean Giant from Time Spiral (which in itself was twice as big as Cyclopean Mummy), and also references Cyclopean Snare.[10][7] Matt Smith
Everlasting Lich Black mana Walking Corpse? A 4/0 creature that is indestructible, can't be sacrificed and doesn't go to the graveyard for having zero toughness. The quintessential Lich. Aaron Forsythe
Frogkin Kidnapper Black mana Walking Corpse Together with Squidnapper, introduces the Ransom mechanic. A card from the opponent's hand is exiled until the Ransom cost is paid. Mark Heggen
Gunk Slug Black mana Walking Corpse A creature that, when entering the battlefield, creates three useless Gunk sorcery tokens with expensive Cycling costs and shuffles them into the opponent's deck, clogging it. The gunk mechanic was originally designed by Richard Garfield.[11] Casey Gustafson
Largepox Black mana Mind Rot A play on both Pox and Smallpox, that does one of every negative effect existent in the game. Maxx Marshall
One with Death Black mana One with Nothing[7] Poking fun at One with Nothing, this card causes the player to immediately lose the game. A challenge for all Johnnies out there. Robert Schuster
Spellmorph Raise Dead Black mana Murder First card with spellmorph, a variation of Morph that appears on Instants and sorceries instead of creatures. A strictly better Raise Dead. Nelson Brown
Sunimret Black mana Entreat the Dead An exact mirror of Terminus (including the name), first card with Reverse miracle, that can be cast for a special cost if it is in the bottom of the library when you begin searching.[7] Kelly McBride
Swarm of Locus Black mana Walking Corpse A play on Locust Swarm and Cloudpost, this creature gains a bonus for each Locus you control. Emily Maltby
Underdark Beholder Black mana Walking Corpse A D&D crossover that was blocked by Hasbro before,[12] this creature has eyestalk counters that are removed instead of being dealt damage, and can cast a spell for free whenever it attacks. Beholders themselves appear later in Magic with Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. Chris Tulach
Witty Demon Black mana Walking Corpse A creature that gives you a bonus if your deck has 13 cards above the minimum required by the format, and punishes you otherwise, essentially punishing deck optimization. Brittany Austin
Xyru Specter Black mana Perish Introduces the bluffing mechanic of Challenge. The card uses the "Summon Creature"-template, which is a specter of the past. The tombstone is dedicated to "Fluffy the very hypnotic specter". The card was designed by Richard Garfield for Dominaria.[8][7] Jeff Steward
Yawgmoth's Testament Black mana Mind Rot A play on Yawgmoth's Will, that allows you to play cards from exile, but places all cards that would go to the Graveyard or into exile on the bottom of your deck. The testament is written the Phyrexian language and features roughly the same text as the text box.[13] The Phyrexian text was updated in the August 2021 reprint, but not changed in content.[14][15] Eli Shiffrin
Bombardment Red mana Act of Treason Turns every card off the battlefield into a Red Sorcery named Missile that are essentially Firebolts without flashback. First conceived by Ryan Siegel-Stechler during the Great Designer Search 3.[8][16][7] James Arnold
Geometric Weird Red mana Guttersnipe A Weird whose power and toughness can become equal to the amount of effects on the stack. Matthew Gregory
High Troller Red mana Guttersnipe A Troll in both meanings of the word, that makes spells and abilities cheaper, but random. Graeme Hopkins
Impatient Iguana Red mana Guttersnipe A creature with Haste that is in such a hurry that, if it is on your starting hand, you may become the starting player. Brandi Reece
Lazier Goblin Red mana Guttersnipe Introduces the Motivate keyword ability. A throwback to "Lazy Goblin" (2/1 and can't block) that was considered too good for Standard back in 2003.[17][7] Mark Price
Lightning Colt Red mana Guttersnipe A colt (i.e. a young horse) that deals Lightning Bolt damage to any target when entering the battlefield. Second Instant Creature. Christine Lee Risinger
Mana Abundance Red mana Sarkhan's Unsealing A version of Mana Flare that gives mana to everyone on the table whenever any player adds mana to their pool. The first World Enchantment since the release of Visions. Ken Nagle
Planequake Red mana Jaya's Greeting An X Damage card that introduces the concept of plot boosters. Plot Boosters are very common with Legacy-style board games. Though the plot booster "Uncovered Cavern" is mentioned on the card, that product is non-existent. Chris Kiritz
Problematic Volcano Red mana Sarkhan's Unsealing Forces every player to separate their creatures into two different groups, and the creatures can only face creatures in the same group. This is a throwback to Raging River. Gavin Verhey illustrated his infamous fall down a real volcano.[18][19] The card was inspired by the unreleased Stygian mechanic that was designed for Theros Beyond Death.[20] A similar effect would later appear on Space Beleren in Unfinity, in which creatures are separated into three "sectors." Gavin Verhey
Queue of Beetles Red mana Guttersnipe These creatures invert the order of the Stack, to "first in, first out". It turns off counterspells and gives all spells split second. Brendan Sell
Red Herring Red mana Guttersnipe Can be cast from the hand, replacing a spell on the Stack or creature, and changing the target of any effect to itself. A red herring is a false lead or a distraction. The name was reused in Murders at Karlov Manor. Chris Mooney
Seasoned Weaponsmith Red mana Guttersnipe First creature with Tasty (it can be attacked directly). The bird is tasty because it is well seasoned, as well as being "experienced". Mark Gottlieb
Siege Elemental Red mana Guttersnipe Inverts what creatures can or can't block during combat. Previously explored in Masako the Humorless. Levi Parker
Throat Wolf Red mana Viashino Sandstalker The famous Throat Wolf finally printed, even with firstest strike.[7] Uses the original Summon type line. Sam Stoddard
Tibalt the Chaotic Red mana Tibalt, Rakish Instigator This version of Tibalt can cast one spell at random for a list of three for each Loyalty ability. The wording of the spells has to be looked up in Oracle. Foreshadows spellbook in Arena Digital Magic. Zach Francks
Transcantation Red mana Lightning Strike Can transform any Instant or Sorcery in the stack into a Lightning Bolt. Essentially a new form of red counterspell. Ryan Printz
Trial and Error Red mana Lightning Strike A Lightning bolt-like spell that, if countered or fizzled, creates a copy of itself. First time that the fizzle concept is named on a card. Chris Clay
Whammy Burn Red mana Lightning Strike First use of the whammy deck, inspired by the series Press Your Luck and the Whammy space on the wheel. Melissa DeTora
Bear with Set's Mechanic Green mana Gigantosaurus? A pun on the fact that each new set tends to feature a prototype bear with a new mechanic. In this case, it is Aggressive Annie Sardelis
Domesticated Mammoth Green mana Gigantosaurus? A fatty that arrives on the battlefield with an enchantment token of Pacifism on it. Only effective if that aura can be removed. Revives the Mammoth creature type. May have inspired the Role mechanic, specifically the Cursed Role and Cursed Courtier. Jade Granger
Experiment Five Green mana Gigantosaurus A further development of Experiment One. Reintroduces Z generic mana as a mana cost (previously seen on The Ultimate Nightmare of Wizards of the Coast® Customer Service). Z generic mana is now redefined as a cost that can be paid with one mana from any source that could produce two or more colors of mana. The pictured bearsnake was inspired by Verhey's childhood Halloween costume.[21] Gavin Verhey
Frenemy of the Guildpact Green mana Gigantosaurus The Frenemy is the first creature with Protection from enemy-colored multicolored, a concept well-known outside the game but difficult to refer to with actual game rules text. It depicts the enemy-colored Ravnican planeswalkers Ral Zarek and Kaya, and the former Living Guildpact Jace Beleren. Jacob Nourigat
Generated Horizons Green mana Blanchwood Armor First card to create land tokens. It's similar to Endless Horizons but with a distinct green flair of actually ramping. Land tokens have earlier been considered to be a failed experiment.[22] Daniel Holt
Gorilla Tactics Green mana Finale of Devastation A play on Guerrilla tactics, Guerrilla Tactics, and a callback to Alliances, which during playtesting had every single card named with the word "Gorilla".[23] Reintroduces the Gorilla type. Jiachen Tao
Growth Charm Green mana Naturalize Combines three other cards from the Mystery Booster set into a charm: Rampant Growth, Giant Growth and Regrowth. The wording of the spells has to be looked up in Oracle. The card foreshadowed the release of Garth One-Eye which also can copy Regrowth, and other cards besides.[24] Chris Bellach
Inspirational Antelope Green mana Gigantosaurus? The Legacy keyword, another nod to Legacy-style board games, allows you to permanently change the rules connected to this card. Mike Demaine
Interplanar Brushwagg Green mana Gigantosaurus Only the second ever Brushwagg ever printed. Introduces Interplanar, as a keyword and as an extra battlefield, and the concept of a creature controllable only by proxy. John Penick
Krosan Adaptation Green mana Blanchwood Armor The first Enchantment (Aura) and permanent to feature the Storm mechanic. Flavored in line with the Scourge set. Revisited with Aeve, Progenitor Ooze. Zach Francks
Maro's Gone Nuts Green mana Doubling Season[7] References Mark Rosewater by name, by his illustration which is a callback to his art of Look at Me, I'm the DCI,[25] his love for squirrels and his preference for doubling mechanics. Mark Rosewater
Patient Turtle Green mana Gigantosaurus Favors players who don't play first in the game. Revisited in Alchemy with Forsaken Crossroads. Katie Allison
Plane-Merge Elf Green mana Gigantosaurus Introduces the Landship and Kinfall mechanics, mixups of Kinship and Landfall. Nataly Scheidt
Soulmates Green mana Blanchwood Armor An Aura that enchants two creatures and connects their fates. The art was updated in the August 2021 reprint, possibly due to copyright infringement (Pusheen the Cat).[14] Victoria Cana
Vazal, the Compleat Green mana Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma The first megalegendary creature, making fun of the ill-named megamorph ability. Introduces the Phyrexian creature type, which often has been requested on Blogatog[26], and was codified with Kaldheim and Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider. His name indicates that Vazal has been compleated. Damian Tedrow
A Good Thing White manaBlack mana Ethereal Absolution Turns bad in about seven turns, because of too much of a good thing. The art notes this; two "dead" faces out of nine, each box suggesting one upkeep. Yoni Skolnik
Abian, Luvion Usurper Red manaGreen mana Domri, Chaos Bringer Abian is another non-humanoid planeswalker. Luvion is a known plane. Mechanically this card messes with life total and loyalty. In a way similar to Garruk the Slayer, Abian represents the player, spending their life total as loyalty. James Kooi
Bind // Liberate Green manaWhite mana Assure // Assemble A split card that combines the existing cards Bind and Liberate.[7] Talia Armato-Helle
Bucket List Blue manaRed mana Firemind's Research This Bucket list uses counters to tick the boxes, instead of a Legacy style pen. The card was designed by Jay Treat during the Great Designer Search 3.[8][27][7] Nathan Ian Greene
Evil Boros Charm White manaBlack manaRed mana Boros Charm An alternate Boros Charm. Eli Shiffrin designed this, because in his opinion black is just red plus white.[28] The first card to feature hybrid mana costs in two different color pairs, which would be revisited in Streets of New Capenna. Mark Purvis
Golgari Death Swarm Black manaGreen mana Sphinx of New Prahv Abbreviated name and cost refer to GDS3. In that search, a question asked which multicolor combination a creature with the keywords and stats of Serra Angel would most likely be.[29] Given the premise that a multicolor card should not remove one color and still be in pie, the only choice over the ten pairs was Black manaGreen mana, as seen, despite black being secondary in flying and green being secondary in vigilance. The playtest card is stickered over a white/blue multicolored card that also has flying and vigilance.[7] Ovidio Cartagena
Graveyard Dig Black manaGreen mana Drain the Well? A card for Graveyard decks that favor green and black creatures, but can be used with other colors at an increased cost. First concepted by Linus Ulyssus Hamilton during the Great Designer Search 3.[8][30][7] An evolution of overload by deleting text rather than overwriting it. Later perfected as a mechanic in Cleave. Sandra Everingham
How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy Blue manaRed mana Call the Skybreaker A challenge for combo players. Between Blue manaRed mana draft archetypes and the storm mechanic, Blue manaRed mana has the highest odds of running a spell that does nothing but trigger effects when casting a sorcery. The artwork also poses the question of "Can we make it Arcane?" presumably to theoretically synergize with the parasitic splice onto Arcane mechanic. Scott Van Essen
Kaya, Ghost Haunter White manaBlack mana Kaya, Bane of the Dead Revives the haunt mechanic by referencing haunted creatures. Second Kaya planeswalker that can recover Loyalty by exiling itself. Sydney Adams
Louvaq, the Aberrant Green manaBlue mana Roalesk, Apex Hybrid First creature with Protection from modified creatures. Defines modified, which would later be used in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. Cynthia Sheppard
Personal Decoy White manaBlue mana Dovin, Grand Arbiter An answer to the call for non-humanoid planeswalkers often heard on Blogatog. Duck throws shade on the fate of Dack in the War of the Spark. First Planeswalker to be non- Legendary on purpose. Plays off the normal response to Planeswalkers by immediately attacking them by forcing the opponent to attack it. You can have as many of them on the table as you want.[5] Alison Luhrs
Pick Your Poison Green manaBlack mana Maelstrom Pulse A unique Modal spell that scales up "cheaper" effects by repeating them, first conceived by Jeremy Geist during the Great Designer Search 3.[8][31][7] The name was reused in Murders at Karlov Manor, and the mechanic later debuted as "pawprint" modal spells in Bloomburrow. Corey Bowen
Seek Bolas's Counsel Blue manaBlack manaRed mana Cruel Ultimatum[7] A Planechase inspired card, making use of the planeswalk keyword action and the plane card Pools of Becoming. Also references Nicol Bolas, Wit's End, Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh, Hour of Devastation, and Mastermind's Acquisition; all Bolas-related cards. Matt Warren
Sliv-Mizzet, Hivemind Blue manaRed mana Niv-Mizzet, Parun Grants Slivers the text box of Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind. Rotate the first symbols of the flavor text 180 degrees, then rotate the last ones 90 degrees: ^17S becomes SLIv, Z-> becomes NIv. Sliv = Niv. Jeff Stewart
Smelt // Herd // Saw Red manaBlack manaGreen mana Collision // Colossus A three split card. Smelt was first printed as a standalone card in Magic 2013. Saw creates 1/2 Half creature tokens. A similar effect to Saw would appear in Unfinity on Saw in Half, which creates two half-sized copies of the destroyed creature. Allison Medwin
Start // Fire White manaRed mana Order // Chaos A split card that recombines Start from Start // Finish (Amonkhet) with Fire from Fire // Ice (Apocalypse).[7] Nelson Brown
Slivdrazi Monstrosity Colorless manaWhite manaBlue manaBlack manaRed manaGreen mana Mindmelter When Slivers meet Eldrazi. Uses Annihilator - combines Sliver Queen and Spawnsire of Ulamog. Justin Cornell
Wrath of Sod Green manaWhite mana Camaraderie A play on Wrath of God. Introduces manabond counters, which turn any card into a land which can be tapped for mana. The combination resembles Settle the Wreckage. Chad Kanotz
Zyym, Mesmeric Lord Blue manaBlack mana Lazav, the Multifarious First conceived by Alex Werner during the Great Designer Search 3.[8][32][7] Nick Bartoletti
Chronobot Artifact Skyscanner A thief of time. Switches upkeep steps. Stephanie Mitchell
Lantern of Undersight Artifact Millstone A play on Lantern of Insight. The easiest way to do this would be to flip the deck upside down, but that reveals each card you play - like the original lantern. Without it, doing so would be revealing hidden information. Trick Jarrett
Mirrored Lotus Artifact Millstone Introduces Reflect. A Black Lotus for everyone! Meris Mullaley
Pithing Spyglass Artifact Millstone Similar to Pithing Needle and Sorcerous Spyglass, but chooses a keyword ability or ability word instead of a card name. Melissa DeTora
Puresteel Angel Artifact Skyscanner A beefed up version of Platinum Angel. Puresteel is the Mirrodin Pure version of Darksteel. The third ability is removing colored artifacts from play, associated with New Phyrexia. The second card after Leeches able to remove Poison counters. Refers to how Lich's Mirror and Exquisite Archangel may not save a player from losing to secondary loss conditions. Lukas Litzsinger
Unicycle Artifact Smuggler's Copter Making fun of the Great Unicycle Debate on Blogatog. Is a unicycle an equipment or a vehicle?[33][34] Answer: it is both. An Equipment Vehicle would be officially printed in Aetherdrift with Rover Blades. Ari Nieh
Weaponized Scrap Artifact Skyscanner Introduces the Upgrade mechanic. Has some elements of Mutate. Tyler Wright
Aggressive Crag Land Stone Quarry A new dual land that taps before each combat phase, spoofing certain online players who play everything pre-combat so that they can click "attack all" and pass the turn. Demitrios Feredinos
Barry's Land Land Reliquary Tower? Barry's Land finally printed.[8] The fact that Cloud is a new basic land type is only obliquely referred to in the art (where it says Domain+1). Matt Tabak
Domesticated Watercourse Land Submerged Boneyard A Dimir dual land. First land with Equip. Joe Torra
Enchanted Prairie Land Meandering River First enchantment land, an often requested feature for a Theros set, but considered to be too dangerous by R&D because of their experience with artifact lands. Urza's Saga was later printed as the first real enchantment land. James Arnold
Gold Mine Land Reliquary Tower Another card with Legacy. A finite source of colored mana. It can only be used 5 times for that purpose. Double Masters 2022 would later include Cryptic Spires, which you also marked to indicate what mana you could tap for. Max McCall
Jasconian Isle Land Island A Land creature that, like many giant blue creatures, does not untap unless you pay Mana. A jab at Island Fish Jasconius from Arabian Nights which was also printed with Summon Island Fish, suggesting a creature could be typed Island. Aaron Reed
Noxious Bayou Land Foul Orchard A Poison land, as first designed for Unglued 2: The Obligatory Sequel. Also considered for Future Sight.[35] James Rose
Rift Land Reliquary Tower? Allows you to just start with this land in your opening hand before Mulligans, at the cost of drawing a smaller hand. A novel way to limit mana screw, guaranteeing a (very bad) land in hand every game. Zach Francks
Taiga Stadium Land Timber Gorge A Gruul Check land that checks for permanents from the three other colors. Encourages multicolor play. Tara Rueping
Waste Land Land Reliquary Tower Can transform any nonbasic land into Wastes tokens. Riffs off Ghost Quarter. Patrick Kuhlman
Ral's Vanguard Reliquary Tower A new Vanguard card with the requirement that a deck only contains Instants, Sorceries and Lands. Has shades of Companion, introduced later in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths. David McDarby

Reused names

Test card names may be reused.[36]

Trivia

References

  1. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (November 11, 2019). "Mystery Booster Playtest Card Artists". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. ↑ ChannelFireball (November 8, 2019). "Uncut sheets of the Test cards have been added to the Prize Wall.". Twitter.
  3. ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 12, 2019). "Are the mystery booster playtest cards legal in silver border constructed?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  4. ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 12, 2019). "May I ask what the reason was to only have the playtest cards be available at cons and not in the store release?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  5. ↑ a b Eli Shiffrin (November 11, 2019). "Mystery Booster Release Notes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. ↑ Ajoost (December 4, 2019). "Mystery Booster Playtest Cards (CMB1)". Reddit.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v 10 Sneaky Easter Eggs on Mystery Booster Playtest Cards! (Video). Good Morning Magic. YouTube (August 20, 2021).
  8. ↑ a b c d e f g h Gavin Verhey (November 14, 2019). "Unraveling the Mystery Booster". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (March 9, 2018). "Great Designer Search 3 Finalist – Scott Wilson". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2018-03-09.
  10. ↑ Gavin Verhey (February 23, 2020). "More than or anything else, the deepest cut is Cyclopean Titan.". Twitter.
  11. ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 14, 2012). "purely out of curiosity, what is richard garfield's "Gunk" mechanic?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  12. ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 08, 2018). "Hey Mark how come we never got a Beholder as a creature?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  13. ↑ Citrus Inferno (November 9, 2019). "A partial translation of Yawgmoth's Testament". Reddit.
  14. ↑ a b Wizards of the Coast (June 21, 2021). "Mystery Booster Convention Edition Returns With In-Store Events". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-06-21.
  15. ↑ Mystery Booster: Convention Edition will be available in some WPN stores starting August 20th. Reddit (June 21, 2021).
  16. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (March 9, 2018). "Great Designer Search 3 Finalist – Ryan Siegel-Stechler". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2018-03-09.
  17. ↑ Randy Buehler (April 25, 2003). "Responses to Vapor Ops". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-08-18.
  18. ↑ Gavin Verhey (November 13, 2019). "4 years ago, I infamously fell down a volcano.". Twitter.
  19. ↑ Gavin Verhey (2015). "The Time I Fell Down a Volcano". Gavinsight.tumblr.com.
  20. ↑ Gavin Verhey (January 9, 2020). "Fun fact: the Mystery Booster playtest card Problematic Volcano was inspired by the Stygian mechanic". Twitter.
  21. ↑ Gavin Verhey (December 27, 2019). "When I was 5, Mom asked what I wanted to be for Halloween. I said: a Bearsnake.". Twitter.
  22. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 17, 2018). "Have you guys ever considered basic land tokens?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  23. ↑ Monty Ashley (September 18, 2002). "Know Your Gorillas". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12.
  24. ↑ Ethan Fleischer (May 25, 2021). "Garth One-Eye". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  25. ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 07, 2019). "Here is the Mystery Booster card I illustrated (and one of several I designed)". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  26. ↑ Mark Rosewater (NDecember 28, 2017). "Frankly it seems like a huge missed opportunity to leave no way to mechanically reference one of magics big villains.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  27. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (March 9, 2018). "Great Designer Search 3 Finalist – Jay Treat". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2018-03-09.
  28. ↑ Eli Shiffrin (November 8, 2019). "Evil Boros Charm". Reddit.
  29. ↑ Mark Rosewater (February 12, 2018). "Make a Choice, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  30. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (March 9, 2018). "Great Designer Search 3 Finalist – Linus Ulyssus Hamilton". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2018-03-09.
  31. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (March 9, 2018). "Great Designer Search 3 Finalist – Jeremy Geist". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2018-03-09.
  32. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (March 9, 2018). "Great Designer Search 3 Finalist – Alex Werner". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2018-03-09.
  33. ↑ Mark Rosewater (May 23, 2018). "I think there is a certain subjective line for vehicle.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  34. ↑ Mark Rosewater (June 29, 2018). "Per the unicycle debate. Would it be possible in black border to have an artifact that is both Equipment and Vehicle?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  35. ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 23, 2019). "In theory, if Wizards decided to print these cards in an actual set, could they be printed exactly as-is text-wise?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  36. ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 18, 2024). "So I take it that the Mystery Booster 'test' card names are not considered 'taken' or... was that a red herring?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  37. ↑ Gavin Verhey (October 13, 2022). "Rosewater Stole My Cards! (Video)". Good Morning Magic. YouTube.
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