Good morning, and Happy 2015! We’re beginning our blog posts this year with a Primer for this weekend’s Fate Reforged prereleases! Over the next few days we’ll be covering the new mechanics of the set, so you know what to expect at the prerelease. Today we’re starting with the Abzan’s new mechanic: Bolster. As you may remember, the Abzan are all about enduring in their desert fortresses, as shown by their original mechanic of Outlast. The Abzan of the past are similar- their Bolster mechanic also gives +1/+1 counters to buff their team, but it specifically focuses on the weakest members of your team!

Bolster is always going to be followed by a number- for example, Bolster 2. What that means is you choose a creature you control, that has the lowest toughness among your creatures, and put that many counters on it. If you have multiple creatures with the lowest toughness (for example, you have three 2/2 creatures), you Bolster whichever one you like. Bolster is honestly pretty simple- the two things to know are that it doesn’t target, and your opponent won’t know which creature you want to Bolster until you’re actually resolving the ability.

So, let’s say you cast Honor’s Reward, which has you gain 4 life and then Bolster 2. You’ve got a 2/2, and a 3/3. Your opponent doesn’t want you to have a 4/4, so he kills your 2/2 in response to your Reward. That’s a mistake! He can’t “stop” you from Bolstering unless he kills all of your creatures. So, your Honor’s Reward resolves, you gain 4… and your 3/3 gets two counters, making it a 5/5! Sad times for your opponent, but glad times for you. On the flip side, if you’re facing down some Bolster… wait until they Bolster before you kill their guy, or they’ll just make a different creature bigger! Happy hunting. Tune in tomorrow (Same Judge Time, same Judge Channel) where we’ll be covering Dash!

Today’s Rules Tip written by Trevor Nunez