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Moxonomy

Pyroceratops

Creature — Elemental Dinosaur3 generic manaRed mana

The design problem here is that spells-matter payoffs and creature-based aggression usually pull a deck in opposite directions: one wants a low creature count and a full grip of cheap noncreature spells, the other wants bodies to attack with. This tries to be both halves at once, a growing threat that scales off the exact plays a spellslinger deck already wants to make. Every burn spell, cantrip, or removal spell you fire off leaves a counter behind, so the clock accelerates as a side effect of the game you were playing anyway. Trample does the work of turning that growth into damage: a 2/3 that swells to five or six power over a couple of turns has to get through chump blockers, and trample means the incremental counters translate into incremental damage rather than stalling against a single 1/1. The catch is the same one every spells-matter creature carries. It does nothing the turn it lands, it eats a removal spell for the cost of a single card, and its value is entirely front-loaded into a board state that hasn't happened yet: cast it into an open board and it grows, cast it behind on the board and it dies before the counters matter. This is the aggressive end of the spellslinger payoff spectrum, the one that wants to end the game rather than grind it, and its ceiling depends entirely on how many spells the surrounding deck can chain before combat.

Pyroceratops (iko)
IKO · #130common
Pricing
Normal: $0.20
Foil: $0.24
Oracle Text

Rules text

Trample Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
Legalities

Format Status

Standard
N/A
Pioneer
Legal
Modern
Legal
Legacy
Legal
Vintage
Legal
Commander
Legal
Pauper
Legal
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
Legal
Oathbreaker
Legal
Gladiator
Legal
Penny Dreadful
N/A
Duel Commander
Legal
Future Standard
N/A
COMPETITIVEBRAWL
Legal
TLR
N/A
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