Trostani do some fun things when they come down- they hand you a few 1/1 Soldiers to wreck shop and gain life, but they’re also an Anthem with… well, not so much ‘legs’ as ‘roots’ being Dryads and all, but they beef up your other creatures- including the Soldiers they just made. 5 power and 8 toughness for 5 mana is pretty slick. The other fun thing Trostani does, though, is firing off a “Give me back my stuff” effect at the end of your turns. At the beginning of each of your end steps, Trostani will throw down a trigger that makes all creatures go back to their owners- kind of a free Homeward Path every turn. That can be really helpful for you if your opponent is holding an Entrancing Melody, since it means anything they steal is going right back to you once Trostani triggers.
But what about if they have the classic Mind Control effect- for example, In Bolas’s Clutches? Trostani will trigger and give stuff back, but won’t they just steal the creature immediately again because of the Aura? The answer to that is ‘no’. The reason for that is that Trostani’s effect isn’t “ending” or “removing” the control-change effects that stole your creatures; they’re simply creating a NEW control-change effect that says “Hey, the owners of these creatures control them”. So that “You Control Enchanted Creature” effect from Bolas’s Clutches is still ‘active’, it’s just being shut down by the newer control-change effect saying “Actually I control this creature!”. So if your opponent steals your Trostani with Clutches, you’ll have them back safe and sound at the end of your opponent’s turn. Keep that in mind!
Today’s Rules Tip was written by Trevor Nunez