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Moxonomy

Crafty Pathmage

Creature — Human Wizard2 generic manaBlue mana

Evasion delivered as a tap ability lives or dies by what it can point at, and the power-2-or-less clause is the restriction that pays for the effect being repeatable: this wizard sneaks in small attackers, never a fattie. A Falter effect throws the door open once for the whole team; this opens it every turn, and the bodies it opens it for are exactly the ones evasion serves best. Small creatures are the ones that get eaten profitably in combat, outclassed by any larger blocker; unblockability turns a clutch of one- and two-power beaters that would otherwise trade or chump into a clock an opponent cannot stabilize against. The honest reading is that it grinds rather than spikes, and the 1/1 is a delivery system, not a combatant: you hold it back to send someone else through rather than swing it into a trade it cannot win. It belongs to a recurring idea in go-wide design, that unblockability is worth more as a stream than as a single burst. The opponent always knows a creature is eventually coming through, which moves the answer they need off any single swing and onto the source: the activation declares its target before blockers are assigned, so there is no surprise to spring, but killing the Pathmage is the only thing that closes the door for good. Leave it on the board and the stream never stops.

Crafty Pathmage (ons)
ONS · #77common
Pricing
Normal: $0.10
Foil: $0.44
Oracle Text

Rules text

Tap: Target creature with power 2 or less can't be blocked this turn.
Legalities

Format Status

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

Other printings

3 sets
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