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Moxonomy

Lava Runner

Creature — Lizard1 generic manaRed manaRed mana

Punishing your opponent for interacting with a creature is an old idea, but rarely has the tax been so blunt. The clause fires on any targeting and bills whoever controls the spell or ability: every removal spell, every targeted burn, every "destroy target creature" costs the caster a land of their own choosing on top of the spell itself. That inverts the usual math of killing a creature. Spending a card to deal with a 2/2 is normally trivial; doing it while ripping a land out of your own manabase is a price almost nobody wants to pay. The design deters the obvious answer by making it cost more than the body is worth, so the creature tends to keep swinging unmolested, and the haste means it starts attacking the turn it resolves. The catch is symmetry. Target it with your own spell and you are the controller, so you sacrifice the land too; the deterrent only ever bites a player who has decided to spend resources on it. Against a deck content to block it, attack into it, or simply outrace it, the clause never fires at all, and the trigger sits inert while a hasty 2/2 does what a hasty 2/2 does. It is a creature built to be left alone, which is also its ceiling: when the opponent obliges, there is nothing here but two power and a sprint.

Lava Runner (mmq)
MMQ · #200rare
Pricing
Normal: $0.47
Foil: $14.83
Oracle Text

Rules text

Haste Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, that spell or ability's controller sacrifices a land of their choice.
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
Legal
PreDH
Legal
Pauper Commander
N/A
Oathbreaker
Legal
Gladiator
N/A
Penny Dreadful
N/A
Duel Commander
Legal
Future Standard
N/A
COMPETITIVEBRAWL
N/A
TLR
Legal
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