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Moxonomy

Ambling Stormshell

Creature — Turtle3 generic manaBlue manaBlue mana

The 5/9 body announces the intent before the abilities do: this is a blocker that occasionally wants to swing, and the design is built entirely around resolving that contradiction. Attacking draws three cards, which is a rate that would normally get taxed heavily, so the tax is paid in tempo instead: the three stun counters mean the Turtle stays tapped for three of your own untap steps unless you find another way home. That is where the last line does its work. Casting a Turtle spell peels one attempt off the untap penalty each time, turning a tribe that has almost never had a payoff into an engine that keeps the card swinging and drawing. The Ward tax protects the whole apparatus from cheap interaction while it is tapped out and vulnerable. What makes this more than a card-advantage creature is the way the two triggers are deliberately misaligned: the attack overcommits, the cast trigger claws back, and the deck's job is to keep enough Turtle spells flowing to stay ahead of the counters it inflicts on itself. Turtles have spent most of the game's history as flavor with no mechanical thread; this is a rare instance of the type being handed both a reason to exist and a self-imposed cost that only Turtle-heavy builds can pay down.

Ambling Stormshell (ptdm)
PTDM · #37srare
Pricing
Normal:
Foil: $0.91
Oracle Text

Rules text

Ward 2 generic mana Whenever this creature attacks, put three stun counters on it and draw three cards. (If a permanent with a stun counter would become untapped, remove one from it instead.) Whenever you cast a Turtle spell, untap this creature.
Legalities

Format Status

Standard
Legal
Pioneer
Legal
Modern
Legal
Legacy
Legal
Vintage
Legal
Commander
Legal
Pauper
N/A
Brawl
Legal
Historic
Legal
Alchemy
Legal
Timeless
Legal
Standard Brawl
Legal
More formats
Old School
N/A
Premodern
N/A
PreDH
N/A
Pauper Commander
N/A
Oathbreaker
Legal
Gladiator
Legal
Penny Dreadful
Legal
Duel Commander
Legal
Future Standard
Legal
COMPETITIVEBRAWL
Legal
TLR
N/A
Printings elsewhere

Other printings

2 sets
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