Transformation
- For the official double-faced card mechanic, see Transform.
Transformation is a slang term used by Magic R&D to describe the following effect: "~ is a (color) (card type) with base power and toughness P/T."[1] This mechanic is primary in blue.
Description
Transformation overwrites the base power and toughness of a creature. It can be caused by almost all card types: instants and sorceries transform temporarily, Auras transform so long as it's enchanting the creature, and transformations from creatures, enchantments and planeswalkers are variable depending on the type of ability. Additionally, there is a sizeable portion that removes all abilities, accompanied with a transformation into a small creature, which acts as a form of removal; for flavor, it may also change the color or subtype to match its helpless new form. This ability used to be in both blue and white, but R&D decided to focus it in blue.[1] The one thing that R&D has taken from blue is destroying or exiling a creature and then giving the controller of that creature a creature token as a means of flavoring transformation. That is now a white ability flavored as giving "compensation" for destroying/exiling the creature. This means all of blue's transformation abilities are auras or limited effects on spells or activations.[2]
Most of the sizes that transformations make are small, with combined power and toughness less than 3 (i.e. 0/2, 1/1, 0/1). Once transformation began seeing use as one-off creature pump effects, 4/4 and 4/3 were common sizes for blue spells to overpower some three or four mana creatures but can't be doubled to break through bigger ones. Green also has a series of transformation spells, but they tend to be more proactive and are used to utilize its smaller creatures later on in the game.
A small number of cards transform permanents into noncreatures, such as an enchantment, a land, a Clue, a Vehicle or a Treasure.
Examples
The table below provides examples of various designs of transformations.
| Color | Name | Type | P/T | Color | Subtype | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Baffling Defenses | Instant | Creature's power becomes 0 | Perpetual effect | ||
|
|
Darksteel Mutation | Aura | 0/1 Insect artifact creature | Loses all abilities, gains indestructible | ||
|
|
Humility | Enchantment | 1/1 | All creatures lose all abilities. | ||
|
|
Minimus Containment | Aura | Treasure artifact | Loses all abilities and gains the Treasure ability | ||
|
Behind the Mask | Instant | 1/1 or 4/3 | |||
|
|
Witness Protection | Aura | 1/1  Citizen
|
Name becomes Legitimate Businessperson with no abilities | ||
|
Gigantomancer | Creature | 7/7 | Until end of turn | ||
|
|
Scale Up | Sorcery | 6/4 Wurm
|
|||
|
|
Aven Mimeomancer | Creature | 3/1 | Gains flying As long as it has a feather counter | ||
|
|
Kudo, King Among Bears | Creature | 2/2 Bear, in addition to other types | All other creatures until Kudo leaves the battlefield | ||
|
|
Oko, Thief of Crowns | Planeswalker | 3/3 Elk
|
Permanent effect with no reminding marker | ||
|
|
Snakeform | Instant | 1/1 Snake
|
Loses abilities | ||
|
|
Square Up | Instant | 4/4 | |||
|
|
Tanazir Quandrix | Creature | X/Y | X/Y is Tanazir's stats until end of turn | ||
References
- ↑ a b 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.