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Moxonomy

Bygone Bishop

Creature — Spirit Cleric2 generic manaWhite mana

Investigate as a recurring engine rather than a one-shot reward: that is the design problem this Spirit solves. The keyword usually shows up stapled to a single spell, a one-time Clue and done. Here it triggers off a behavior a white deck would already want to commit to, casting cheap creatures, so the curve that builds the board doubles as a draw engine. The mana value 3 or less clause does the balancing work, paying off the bottom of the curve specifically, the one-drops and two-drops that aggressive white decks flood the board with anyway, and declining to reward the expensive bombs that would not need the help. The lag lives in the Clues themselves: each one banks card advantage you have to pay two mana and a sacrifice to unlock, so the engine can sit on a 2/3 flyer for three mana without warping a fair game. You are always trading present tempo for future cards, whether you crack the Clues immediately or hold them for a lull. The flying body gives the deck an evasive clock that keeps pressure on while the tokens accumulate. It is a deckbuilding incentive wearing a creature's clothes, asking you to lean harder into the low end of your curve than you otherwise might, and refueling the kind of go-wide aggression that rarely gets to refuel at all.

Bygone Bishop (psoi)
PSOI · #8srare
Pricing
Normal:
Foil: $2.31
Oracle Text

Rules text

Flying Whenever you cast a creature spell with mana value 3 or less, investigate. (Create a Clue token. It's an artifact with "2 generic mana, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card.")
Legalities

Format Status

Standard
N/A
Pioneer
Legal
Modern
Legal
Legacy
Legal
Vintage
Legal
Commander
Legal
Pauper
N/A
Brawl
Legal
Historic
Legal
Alchemy
N/A
Timeless
Legal
Standard Brawl
N/A
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
N/A
COMPETITIVEBRAWL
Legal
TLR
Legal
Printings elsewhere

Other printings

4 sets
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