Welcome, one and all, to New Capenna! Mind your step, the streets are busy, and danger lurks around every corner. But not to worry: even if you don’t have one of the five families guiding you, there’s always the Missed Triggers guide. We’re here to teach you the ins and outs of triggered abilities in the set that might cause trouble. And there are quite a few. Here’s what you’re in for this set:
Five cards (and one keyword) have a trigger that upgrades when missed:
“At the beginning of each combat, if Reservoir Kraken is untapped, an opponent may tap an untapped creature they control. If they do, tap it and create a token …”
A Desecration Demon variant in blue! Not totally unique, we’ve seen a few of these before with different amounts of value they create by not attacking. But as with most, it’s usually better to be attacking with a four mana 6/6.
“Whenever Shakedown Heavy attacks, defending player may have you draw a card. If they do, untap Shakedown Heavy and remove it from combat.”
A different variant on the Desecration Demon effect, but the same result. Attacking for 6 damage will usually have a more immediate impact on the game than drawing a card, and giving the opponent the choice makes this worse for its controller.
“[Create a token] … Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.”
This card gets a special mention separate from other Blitz cards because it can also create tokens that have both trigger components of Blitz! They behave the exact same; the delayed sacrifice trigger is generally detrimental and it undoes a zone change, so we always have a remedy to apply. Note that the card draw trigger is separate and it is the appropriate window to acknowledge it whenever the card or token dies, even if that’s due to a judge remedy! Don’t remind a player of this beneficial trigger unprompted, but if they ask, that trigger does go on the stack.
“At the beginning of your upkeep, Black Market Tycoon deals 2 damage to you for each Treasure you control.”
A 2/2 for 2 mana that can churn out Treasure tokens has to be too good a deal to be true… Until we get to the catch. 2 damage per Treasure per turn adds up quick.
“Equipped creature has ‘At the beginning of your end step, tap this creature.'”
If only there were a way to attach this to opponents’ creatures. This trigger is definitely generally detrimental; in most cases it disables one of your creatures each turn, and needs constant re-equipping.
- Keyword: Blitz
“Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.”
The Blitz keyword is made up of an alternative casting cost and two triggered abilities; one beneficial, one detrimental. These two are acknowledged independent of one another, though sacrificing the creature with Blitz will usually mean that that creature dies. And in case a player forgets to sacrifice their Blitzed creature for longer than a turn cycle, we still apply the remedy, because this trigger undoes a zone change.
12 cards have the keyword Blitz: Girder Goons; Night Clubber; Tenacious Underdog; Jaxis, the Troublemaker; Mayhem Patrol; Plasma Jockey; Pugnacious Pugilist; Riveteers Requisitioner; Caldaia Strongarm; Riveteers Decoy; Workshop Warchief; Ziatora’s Envoy
Otherwise notable cards:
“If damage would be dealt to you, prevent that damage and mill twice that many cards.”
This ability is a replacement effect, not a triggered ability. That means that if players forget to apply it, the remedy will have to be via Game Rule Violation if we’re still within the window for a back-up.
“When Snooping Newsie enters the battlefield, mill two cards.”
Self-mill is still considered generally detrimental, unless the card itself is benefiting from it. Here that’s exactly what’s happening! Since the Newsie gains +1/+1 and Lifelink based on filling your graveyard, its trigger is not going to upgrade when missed.
That’s all there is for New Capenna; if you made it this far, then congrats, you’ve gotten through everything the city of demons had to throw at you! The next time we see each other will be for Dominaria United, this fall. Who knows yet what we’ll face then – Dominaria is a whirlwind of old and new – but we’ll be sure to help with navigating the complexity when the time comes.