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Moxonomy

Duggan, Private Detective

Legendary Creature — Human Detective2 generic manaGreen manaBlue mana

The design here reads as a deliberate feedback loop between two axes that usually fight each other. A creature whose body scales with cards in hand wants you to hoard; the repeated investigate on enter and attack builds a stockpile you can cash back into that grip. The wrinkle is that the Clues don't grow Duggan directly: they sit on the battlefield as artifact tokens until you sacrifice them to draw, and only that draw feeds the power. So the engine has a valve. You bank Clues on your terms and convert them into hand size (and body) at the moment it matters most, rather than being force-fed cards you might not want. The activated ability is where the loop pays off: it deals damage equal to twice Duggan's power, and the power is your hand count, so a full grip turns a single tap into a removal spell that comfortably outscales most creatures. The one-time restriction is the discipline that keeps this from becoming a repeatable cannon: you get exactly one big swing, timed for when your hand is deepest, so the reward is front-loaded rather than grinding. What makes the assembly clever is that all three lines point at the same number. Investigate stocks the fuel, the draw converts it, the P/T reflects the count, and the punch multiplies it. The joke, quite literally, is that the longer you refuse to commit, the harder the detective hits when he finally throws it.

Duggan, Private Detective (who)
WHO · #728rare
Pricing
Normal:
Foil: $0.77
Oracle Text

Rules text

Duggan's power and toughness are each equal to the number of cards in your hand. Whenever Duggan enters or attacks, investigate. The Most Important Punch in History — 1 generic manaGreen mana, Tap: Duggan deals damage equal to twice its power to another target creature. Activate only once.
Legalities

Format Status

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