As soon as they made the untap symbol, Wizards were just asking for infinite combo abuse. This + Bloom Tender :D
Equinox523
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Viridian Joiner works too, for infinite green mana and power.
EpicSeven
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Works nicely with combo decks like withBloom Tender, but other than that i think its a bit weak.
ArturoB616
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
A broken combo card that equips for 0. A johnny's best friend for the tender deck, though originally I think they meant this card to be played with deep-slumber titan.
lickthemoose
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
this card has won me many many games can we say elvish archdruid and helix penicle haha its cheap but it works fast
Lege
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I now know what I need to get to make my Priest of Titanias work better. Nice!
DarkbladeWraith
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@ratchet1215 - You're definitely right about that, but it's lots of fun all the same =)
My favourite Infinite-combo with this? Umbral mantle, plus a Phyrexian Altar and Marrow-Gnawer. Infinite creatures, infinite mana AND one infinitely-large creature, all with Fear. Door of Destinies if you really must.
JaxsonBateman
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
Viridian Longbow and Umbral Mantle... let any creature win the game for only 3 mana! o.o
izzet_guild_mage
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(7 votes)
I don't think I've ever seen this thing used in a non-combo setting. But it certainly has its uses in that department :)
xNavarone
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
I don;t really know what the art is....treefolk with some rags on it or sommat.
A3Kitsune
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This on Shauku, Endbringer. Eliminate all opposing creatures, giving Shauku +3/+3 each time, then eliminate your opponent in one attack.
Silk_Blitz
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
This, Training Grounds, and Bloomtender (or Joraga Treespeaker for us poorer people. Infinitely large creature that can attack on turn 3 and infinite mana turn 3 for the tender, 4 for the speaker. I <3 combo
jm396
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
I don't feel as special anymore, but I was thinking of this with Emrakul's Hatcher and Splinter Twin. If all the 3/3s you wanted wasn't enough, I added Kyren Negotiations just to be on the safe side.
Crosserenti
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Is it me, or does this card also seem perfect for Kamal? Granted, it's not instant win, but with Furnace of Rath and this, you can tap Kamal and untap him until you run out of mana, then attack for massive damage. Turn after playing Kamal, at least 12 damage, add in Bloodmark Mentor...that is, if you run a slower red deck.
Zetan
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(20 votes)
One day, a man named Johnny sneaked into R&D. He carried with him a paper explaining the Untap symbol. He dropped it into the "approved concepts" box, then sneaked back out.
Strangely, nobody at Wizards ever questioned where this paper came from. They just started publishing cards...
From a design perspecive, the {Q} symbol was a horrible, degenerate mistake for activated ability costs. From a gameplay perspective, it let you do a whole bunch of janky, evil things.
Tap Hateflayer to add 1 mana to your mana pool, pay 1 mana and untap to add +2/+2, tap again to add another mana, then pay 1 mana and untap to deal 7 damage. Repeat, adding +2 damage every time (7 -> 9 -> 11 -> 13, etc.)
Why not Ezuri as a place to dump all that mana? Chances are good you're already using elves, anyway...
Anyway, this only happened once and I don't expect it to happen again, but I came from behind to win in a game of EDH with two other players with just this, Ezuri, and Viridian Joiner, and a bunch of forests on the field. I showed them the combo and they said they had no answers, so I swung with my infinity elves.
Luckily they were nice people who thought the combo was neat instead of getting angsty about losing to the scrub going infinite. It made for a fun experience.
Use channel to pay 1 life per mana, use Oracle of Nectars to gain 1 health per mana (doubled thanks to Boon Reflection), then pay 3 to untap. Rinse and repeat!
luca_barelli
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
at the very worst, it's pseudo-vigilance and +2/+2. At best, it's part of a huge number of combos.
magicspawn
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Perhaps not the best combo, but the most straight-forward is with Elvish Aberration, requiring literally no other cards (except to cast them) for infinite power.
Arachibutyrophobia
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
combo much?
Hibron
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I built a blue-green combo deck around this card that goes off by using Wind Zendikon with Fertile Ground/Overgrowth/Dawn Reflection, or Arbor Elf with the same, or Viridian Joiner.
I'm not nearly Johnny enough for this card. My first thought was "Ooo, that's neat! I can untap my creature during combat to boost it, and then block later!"
NorseDT
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
T1: Land, Veinfire Borderpost T2: Forest, Bloom Tender T3: Land, Umbral Mantle swing for 10,000,000 T4: Land, Fieldmist Borderpost Swing for 10,000,000, drop Emrakul and Progenitus, Blue Sun Zenith their whole deck, etc
Prospector and Krenko on the board, at least 8 total goblins, sac 3 to prospector for , tap Krenko, untap with the 3 mana, sac 3, etc. In my tests, 8 seems to be the 'magic' number to get this going. And with Krenko, getting to 8 goblins is stupidly easy :-)
Ferlord
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
For people who don't already know why Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary is banned as an EDH general, see this card.
And... you know, the obvious reasons... like to tap at least for (unless it was played using Llanowar Elves/Priest of Titania)
But remember: you won't have friends to play against after that.
Hyberus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@endersblade Thornbite Staff is an even better option for the Krenko/Prospector loop
Hungerstriker
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Anybody else find it curious that this is an artifact, rather than an enchantment?
In recent sets, 'umbra' and 'mantle' have become common names for auras (Spirit Mantle, Boar Umbra). Weird that wizards would give such unintuitive names.
MechaKraken
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Put it on Visara, The Dreadful to remove a few of the opponents creatures (preferably their fliers), then swing in with a pumped Visara during your combat phase!
mattoxian
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Grim-grin, corpse born, through having some gravecrawlers seems much easier
Comments (37)
My favourite Infinite-combo with this? Umbral mantle, plus a Phyrexian Altar and Marrow-Gnawer. Infinite creatures, infinite mana AND one infinitely-large creature, all with Fear. Door of Destinies if you really must.
Strangely, nobody at Wizards ever questioned where this paper came from. They just started publishing cards...
Turn 1: Forest, Llanowar Elf
Turn 2: Forest, Viridian Joiner
Turn 3: Giant Growth, Umbral Mantle, Gelatinous Genesis
Infinite creatures with infinite power and toughness. Doesn't have fear but this could play a little faster.
But yeah, training grounds, palladium myr, X CMC spell of your choice.
Tap Hateflayer to add 1 mana to your mana pool, pay 1 mana and untap to add +2/+2, tap again to add another mana, then pay 1 mana and untap to deal 7 damage. Repeat, adding +2 damage every time (7 -> 9 -> 11 -> 13, etc.)
Add Whispersilk Cloak as well just for kicks.
Anyway, this only happened once and I don't expect it to happen again, but I came from behind to win in a game of EDH with two other players with just this, Ezuri, and Viridian Joiner, and a bunch of forests on the field. I showed them the combo and they said they had no answers, so I swung with my infinity elves.
Luckily they were nice people who thought the combo was neat instead of getting angsty about losing to the scrub going infinite. It made for a fun experience.
Use channel to pay 1 life per mana, use Oracle of Nectars to gain 1 health per mana (doubled thanks to Boon Reflection), then pay 3 to untap. Rinse and repeat!
It usually wins before turn 5.
So do Elvish Archdruid, Priest of Titania, and Imperious Perfect
T2: Forest, Bloom Tender
T3: Land, Umbral Mantle
swing for 10,000,000
T4: Land, Fieldmist Borderpost
Swing for 10,000,000, drop Emrakul and Progenitus, Blue Sun Zenith their whole deck, etc
Still didn't stop it.
Prospector and Krenko on the board, at least 8 total goblins, sac 3 to prospector for
And... you know, the obvious reasons... like
Oh, and then there's Priest of Titania/Elvish Archdruid. Have 4+ elves out, use Kamahl, Fist of Krosa as your general, and watch what infinite overrun can do.
But remember: you won't have friends to play against after that.
Thornbite Staff is an even better option for the Krenko/Prospector loop
In recent sets, 'umbra' and 'mantle' have become common names for auras (Spirit Mantle, Boar Umbra). Weird that wizards would give such unintuitive names.