Art by Viktor Titov
But first, a quick introduction on the Battlebox format
Battle Box is a quick, self-contained way to play Magic. Everything is one, easy-to-transport box. There's no set-up: just shufle and play! I was inspired by playing over lunch with my friend @Digbert and his Battle Box, and then listening to Episode 59 and Episode 82 of the Lucky Paper Radio podcast.
Playing BattleboxEach player has access to an exclusive set of 10 lands in the command zone (5 basics, 5 allied, tapped duals) that they can play from outside the game as though they were in their hand.
Players draw from the Battle Box as a single, shared, 100+ card library.
Players share a single graveyard.
The starting hand size is 4 cards. There are no mulligans.
No other rules are altered. Cards are considered 'owned' by the last player who drew them. In practice, effects that interact with the library or cause confusion with the rules changes are excluded from this particular list.
For more about the format check out this article on Lucky Paper explaining the format and how the rules influence different types of effects.
(now back to the monsters)
What's Inside the Monster Box
Very, very hungry monsters, and an absolutely superb array of possibilities!
At the thematic center of this battlebox is the mutate mechanic from Ikoria. Using mutate. you want to mix-and-match monsters to build the biggest, baddest creature around, and then smash with it. Sadly, there are only 34 cards with Mutate, so we have to fill the box out with other monstrously fun cards that are thematic like cards with evolve. I've kept the total card count low as a means of making mutate appear somewhat frequently (~1 in 4 cards at ~130 total) and there are a lot of nice, smaller creatures with lots of keywords on them to mutate your larger creatures onto.
Inside, you will find:
- No humans.
- Almost no humanoids.
- Every card with mutate except *Migratory Greathorn.
- Ability counters galore.
- (Mostly) answerable removal (oblivion ring) or small-scale removal (burn).
- Absolutely no mana acceleration, tutoring, or land destruction.
- Tons of awesome monsters!
Mechanics, Rules, & Interactions FAQ: Mechanic #1: Keyword Counters 1.) How do keyword counters work?
In the same way a +1/+1 counter gives the creature it's on +1/+1, keyword counters give the permanent they're on the listed ability. My box plays with the nifty keyword counter dice, but you can also use the *official punch-out counters from Ikoria, loose change, or just some pen & paper.
This battlebox uses lifelink, flying, deathtouch, menace, trample, and first strike counters.
Having more than one of the same counter (at least the ones in this battlebox) provide no additional benefits. The same way granting a flying creature an additional instance of flying via an aura is redundant, the same is true for a flying counter.
3.) Do keyword counters work on noncreature permanents?Keyword counters grant the permanent they're on the assigned ability regardless of permanent type, but that ability may or may not do anything. A land with flying doesn't have mechanical relevance until it becomes a creature, for example, but a noncreature artifact that deals damage still benefits from getting deathtouch or lifelink. This box shouldn't have any interactions like this, but it's good to know.
Mechanic #2: Mutate 1.) So, what exactly does mutate do?Mutate is a keyword that lets you combine creatures in a new way to build better monsters. It's sort-of like the mechanic bestow, where a creature with mutate can be cast as a normal creature or cast for its mutate cost as a way to augment another creature on the battlefield.
If you want a quick video primer on Mutate, there’s one over at the official WotC YouTube channel.
When you cast a creature spell for its mutate cost, a few things change about how you cast it. First, you pay the mutate cost rather than the mana cost. Second, the spell will require a target. Specifically, a target non-Human creature you own. Mutate can be used only if you're casting the spell. If a creature card with mutate enters the battlefield some other way, it just enters the battlefield.
As a mutating creature spell resolves, instead of entering the battlefield, it merges with its target into one creature. Its controller chooses to put the resolving mutating creature spell on top of its target or underneath it. You'll end up with a pile of cards that all represents a single creature. That creature will have all the characteristics of the top card, and it will also have the abilities of every card underneath.
The resolving mutating creature spell doesn't enter the battlefield. It simply makes the creature that was already on the battlefield change characteristics. If that original creature was tapped, the new merged creature is tapped. If it had any counters on it, or Auras or Equipment attached to it, it still does. And it's still presumably a non-Human creature you own, so you can cast another creature spell with mutate and have a third card join the pile. Same rules apply: the new card goes on top or on the bottom and will change the creature's characteristics accordingly.
You can counter mutate like any other spell, and for cards that care about card type like Essence Scatter, a card cast for its mutate cost is still a creature spell while on the stack. When countered, it goes to the graveyard normally like any countered spell.
If a mutating creature spell tries to resolve but can't because its target is illegal or has gone missing, the mutating creature spell will simply resolve and enter the battlefield as a normal creature. This makes mutate “blow-out-proof” so you don’t get 2-for-1’d in the same way you do with Auras.
4.) What happens if a mutated creature is returned to the battlefield from exile, such as when "flickering" it, or if a card that exiled it (such as Oblivion Ring) is destroyed?If your mutated creature is exiled and returned to the battlefield, then all of your mutations come back as their own creature rather than as the pseudo-aura they once were.
5.) What happens if I return a mutated creature to its owner's hand?Mutated creatures are treated as a single entity so if a mutated creature you control is bounced to your hand, all the cards in the pile go into your hand separately all at once.
6.) What happens if a mutated creature phases out?A phased-out permanent is treated as though it doesn’t exist, but it doesn’t change zones in any way. This means, unlike with “bouncing” or exile, the entire mutated creature will remain one creature & phase-in normally on its controller’s next turn.
7.) What happens when a mutated creature with undying dies?The mutated creature will "split" into its individual component parts when it leaves the battlefield, but each of those creatures has the undying ability applied to it as they were all “one” creature upon their death, when undying triggers. This means all creatures that were part of the mutated creature return to the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on them if the initial creature did not have a +1/+1 counter on it.
If you have a creature that makes copies of itself, like Spawnwrithe, and it becomes mutated, the copies they make will also be mutated. In the same way, if a card "clones" a mutated creature, it becomes a copy of the entire creature, mutations and all. Unlike auras or counters, mutated creatures are a copyable element of a creature. The copies, however, won't be considered to "have mutated" for cards that care about that; they were just born that way!
