Pattern Recognition #325 - Threatened to Act

Features Opinion Pattern Recognition

berryjon

30 May 2024

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Hello Everyone! My name is berryjon, and I welcome you all to Pattern Recognition, TappedOut.Net's longest running article series. Also the only one. I am a well deserved Old Fogey having started the game back in 1996. My experience in both Magic and Gaming is quite extensive, and I use this series to try and bring some of that to you. I dabble in deck construction, mechanics design, Magic's story and characters, as well as more abstract concepts. Or whatever happens to catch my fancy that week. Please, feel free to talk about each week's subject in the comments section at the bottom of the page, from corrections to suggested improvements or your own anecdotes. I won't bite. :) Now, on with the show!

Hello everyone! Today, I am going to Threaten you! With a good time, I hope.

Threaten was first printed in Onslaught, and was pretty much the first of its kind in . This card would later be given a functional reprint in Act of Treason, which is the version that persists to this day.

I say in because up until this point, the notion of taking control of something of your opponent's was firmly in realm of with things like Control Magic or Overtaker, a card that Spellshapes Ray of Command. What Threaten did was move a little bit of this stealing into a new colour with a couple of caveats.

The first is that this card and most that followed focused exclusively on stealing an opponent's creatures. Now, can also steal artifacts, it starts here with creatures. But unlike (most) of the cards that came before, 's foray into this ability has a couple of caveats to limit them. Or not actually. When you Threaten a creature, not only do you gain control of them. You also untap them, and you give them Haste until the end of the turn. But in exchange for these advantages, you have to return the creature at the end of combat.

In contrast, 's stealing effects also worked at Sorcery speed, but didn't change the nature of the card being stolen. It just changed the controller of it. Yes, this was a permanent effect (until the end of the game), but you couldn't do anything with your new acquisition the turn you took it, which was by design.

But what is Threaten / Act of Treason used for? Well, initially, it was an uncommon, but was quickly downshifted in other cards to common while keeping the basic effect. This tells me that Wizards intended, all those years ago, to make sure that this effect was available in as something they can have easily and reliable access to in all formats, especially Limited and Draft. This common accessibility meant that any deck could have a little bit of this colour in it, and for a single glorious turn, take an opponent's creature and use it for your benefit.

OK, so let me work with the card here for a moment, because I feel that I am telling you how awesome this card is without showing you.

Because believe me, I do have a story about this effect.

Anyway, let's talk about how this sort of thing plays out. First and most obvious one that most players of these cards gravitate toward is where you borrow your opponents most powerful creature and throw it right back at them. This is simple, classic, and best of all, it works. Even in the simplest of cases, the total number of creatures that hit the opponent is increased by two. One for the creature you just took, and one more for the attacking creature that wouldn't be blocked. It's a simple calculus that has turned the tide of more than one match from stalemate to lethal. I've done it. It's happened to me. I respect it.

The second use is one of utility. Let it never be said that creatures are useless in the game. This isn't the late 90's. Rather, through the use of cards such as this, you can temporarily gain control of a creature in order to gain use if its abilities for the turn. I've seen, for example, a Chulane, Teller of Tales get stolen by a Goblin deck that then proceeded to dump a hand full of Goblins and refill their hand in the process. This card allows you to reach out and gain utility from outside your normal deck that you otherwise wouldn't be able to get. It's a useful piece of the puzzle that can win you a game if you luck out just so.

Just remember to give it back at the end of the turn when you're done with it, and if you kill a person while controlling something of theirs, then that thing goes away for good. Remember the Raiders Motto! "LOOT, PLUNDER, THEN MURDER!"

Which leads us to the next aspect to this, the one that leads to the really fun things you can do. What if you ... didn't have to give it back?

Well, this steps outside of the wheelhouse of for a little but, but I think it's worth looking at synergies outside of that colour by itself. The first one that most people jump to is when they ask themselves the question - why can't I just sacrifice this creature I now have? Why can't I use the ability on Blood Aspirant or Ashnod's Altar or Fling for value?

Well, the response to that is... Go right ahead! It's one of those intended synergies that Wizards has put into the game. Let's just say I had fun five years ago when Ravenous Harpy was in Standard at the same time as Act of Treason. But that's not my story, oh no, not at all.

Before I get to that, did you know that when a creature dies, it goes back to its owner's control and their graveyard? Do you know when it doesn't? When Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip, which represents 99.9% of all these cards, isn't good enough?

Adarkar Valkyrie

Or Aminatou, the Fateshifter, Argent Sphinx, Charming Prince, Conjurer's Closet, Deadeye Navigator, Ghostly Flicker, Journey to Eternity  ^Flip, Kaya's Ghostform...

do i need to keep going?

There are plenty of ways to keep a creature you control even if you don't own it. Yes, you will have to move out past just , but that's not hard in a variety of formats. I admit that this is a roundabout way to mimic just running and things like Invoke the Winds or Mass Manipulation.

But it's not something that people expect. I've seen decks completely fall apart when a single creature gets stolen directly or not, and then lose it utterly if it's in a format like Commander where they realize they have no way to deal with that. Not that I've pulled that off in the past. That would be ridiculous. But very, very final.

I suppose it's time to regale you with my story. Cast your thoughts back to the very narrow time in the summer of 2015 when Tarkir and Theros were both in Standard, and the follow-up set, Magic Origins and Battle for Zendikar rotated the format. You know, when Standard rotated?

Anyway, at the time, Siege Rhino was king of the hill, and many a deck ran Abzan Mid-range to exploit (not the mechanic) the sheer value that came from that creature. I at the time, decided to screw the meta, and built a very low to the ground and cheap deck that used unblockable creatures like Marang River Prowler, Gudul Lurker, Triton Shorestalker, and Elusive Spellfist. This was backed up by War Horn, Trumpet Blast and Act of Treason to be a ridiculous Aggro deck.

Act of Treason was my anti-Siege Rhino card, and it worked. A lot of decks used the sheer bulk and in-built Lightning Helix of the Rhino to gain back vital life and to block incoming attackers, and my deck was built to take that hope and murder it in the grave. I did just that, and I recall with fondness how my opponents (when it happened) had trouble parsing what I had just done, and why they were about to get murdered by their own Siege Rhino. I top-8'd one of the major Standard tournaments, but sadly didn't get the PTQ with it.

Never underestimate the power of commons, especially when you're in a format that was being held up by a single creature. On the draw, I could Act against their on-curve Rhino, and on the play, I would have additional setup to the tune of a War Horn, more attackers, or even have the glorious six mana to pay for the Act and the Trumpet Blast and put paid to their hopes for victory. All because of Act of Treason.

I will vouch for this card and all the ones that came before and after.

Speaking of, I should have a loot at a couple that strike my fancy.

Captivating Crew is an excellent repeatable, though it does have the problem of being on a creature. But costing an MV of is pretty good, and the card is quite reliable right until it draws all the hate.

Flash Conscription is massively overcosted, but does add Lifelink to your new friend if you used to pay for it.

Grab the Reins, if you entwine it, is both Act of Treason and Fling, while being badly overcosted to do both.

Insurrection ends the game. And it had better for an MV of !

Mob Rule lets you go high or low with the power of what you're taking. Go high for heavy hitters and sweepers, or go low and go wide. Your pick!

Spinal Embrace gets the nod from me not because it was good, but because it's from Invasion Block, and it was one of my Sealed Rares from that prerelease.

Word of Seizing is hilarious because I was able to use it to steal someone's Aetherflux Resevoir out from under them thanks to having Split Second. Can't fishbowl me if I have the artifact! ooops, dropped it and it went Smash.

Zealous Conscripts goes infinite with Kikki-Jikki, and that's another game-ender right there.

There's lots to choose from, and honestly, there are probably no wrong answers. Well, wrong for you. Definitely bad for your opponents when you play these cards. Enjoy them! Play them in pauper! Never forget that you can steal something for as long as you need to as long as you can win before the turn is over.

And Definitely never forget to return the cards when the game is done.

Thank you all for reading! June is looking to be a busy month for me here, which means I shouldn't be writing these articles down at the last possible second. Again. I hope you all look forward to it! Starting next week, with either a deck, or some rules. Haven't decided yet.

Until then, please consider donating to my Pattern Recognition Patreon. Yeah, I have a job (now), but more income is always better, and I can use it to buy cards! I still have plans to do a audio Pattern Recognition at some point, or perhaps a Twitch stream. And you can bribe your way to the front of the line to have your questions, comments and observations answered!