The Wilds of Eldraine are teeming with mystery. And Faeries! And cute woodland animals, only some of which wish you ill! I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “Self, what’s the most dangerous part of Eldraine?” It could be the rogue Bumblesheep. It could be Oko actively trying to ruin your life. Or, most terrifying of all, it could be the cards in this enchanted realm that have generally detrimental triggers. Luckily, we’re here to help you identify those cards so you can avoid getting a Warning (or, more likely, being turned into a newt).
Four cards have one or more triggers that upgrade to a Warning when missed:
“When this creature enters, create a Cursed Role token attached to it.”
If we polled 100 Magic players, 99 of them would say a 3/3 is better than a 1/1 (the one outlier is Tom “The Boss” Ross). If a player forgets to make a Cursed Role token and curse their Courtier to be a much smaller creature, they’ll earn themselves a Warning.
“At the beginning of your upkeep, you may sacrifice an artifact, enchantment, or token. If you don’t, tap this creature.”
Generally, players like their undercosted 6/6 creature to be able to do things. This creature would be much more delicious if it didn’t eat up your other resources. If someone forgets to feed it by not sacrificing one of the listed permanent types, they’ll have to eat a Warning.
“When this creature enters, created a Cursed Role token attached to target creature you control.”
Much like Cursed Courtier above, making a creature 1/1 is usually worse than not making it 1/1. This is extra noticeable on Spiteful Hexmage, where a 1-mana 3/2 with no downside would be an excellent card indeed! If a player forgets to create a Cursed Role token when their Hexmage enters, they’ll earn a Warning.
“Sacrifice all Reflections you control.”
This saga spends two turns letting a player make copies of their favorite creatures, only to tear it all down with the Chapter III ability. A player forgetting to sacrifice their Reflections will receive a Warning. Also note that since this triggered ability undoes a zone change, it doesn’t ever expire; no matter how long it’s been since the trigger was missed, those Reflections will be shattered, like tears in rain or something.
One card has a trigger that does NOT upgrade when missed:
“At the beginning of your draw step, if you control an enchanted creature, you lose 1 life and you draw an additional card.”
One life for one card is a great rate! This trigger never upgrades, though if a player’s at low life and misses it, you may want to ask a few more questions than usual.
Other notable cards and mechanics:
1. Bitter Chill
“When this Aura enters, tap enchanted creature.”
Oh, you thought we could go more than one set without the Generic Blue Tap Aura? Think again! As usual, if we somehow forgot to tap the enchanted permanent when this Aura entered, just tap it now.
“This creature enters tapped with three stun counters on it.”
This is an enters replacement effect, not a triggered ability. Handle any “Oops I forgot to put stun counters on it” as a Game Rule Violation instead.
3. Glass Casket, Werefox Bodyguard, Food Coma
“When [this] enters, exile [something] until [this] leaves the battlefield.”
The return part of these abilities doesn’t use a trigger (compare them to something like Oblivion Ring). If something should have been returned and wasn’t, treat it like a Game Rule Violation, not a Missed Trigger.
That’s all we’ve got for Wilds of Eldraine. Hopefully none of this caused you too much woe. Join us next time when we delve too greedily and too deep into the Lost Caverns of Ixalan. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from caves in fantasy, nothing can ever go wrong when you go digging around for buried treasure.