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Moxonomy

Trap Runner

Creature — Human Soldier2 generic manaWhite manaWhite mana

The design solves a problem most defensive cards ignore: the attacker who declared an unblockable creature has, by the time blockers are locked in, already won the math. This taps to rewrite that math after the fact. Once blockers are declared, you choose a creature already swinging at your face (one that may have been unblockable in the first place) and simply declare it blocked, no actual blocker required. That timing restriction is the entire trick. It cannot ambush an attacker before combat, cannot fog the whole team, and offers nothing if the opponent keeps creatures home; it only matters when something is committed to the red zone and your blocks have already failed. The parenthetical reminder text spells out the part that makes it sing: a creature that "can't be blocked" still becomes blocked, which means evasion keywords, menace against a thin board, and outright unblockable abilities all fold to a single tap. The flexibility has a cost, though, and it is a deep one: a blocked creature deals its combat damage to whatever blocks it, and here nothing does, so the attacker is stopped cold and, barring trample, takes no harm. The effect is largely damage prevention wearing a block's clothing. This is a component of an interaction rather than a finisher: the tax for owning an answer to the one attacker every other defensive tool waves straight through.

Trap Runner (mmq)
MMQ · #55uncommon
Pricing
Normal: $0.20
Foil: $5.49
Oracle Text

Rules text

Tap: Target unblocked attacking creature becomes blocked. Activate only during combat after blockers are declared. (This ability works on creatures that can't be blocked.)
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
N/A
Printings elsewhere

Other printings

1 set
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