Trial (enchantment): Trials have an enter the battlefield effect, which reflects their color. Trials also have a clause, where whenever a trial's owner plays a cartouche, they return it to their hand.
Cartouche (enchantment-aura): Cartouches enchant creatures, giving the creature they are enchanted to a boost of +1/+1 and a keyword, which is primary in that color. They also carry a secondary enter the battlefield effect, which also directly reflects the flavor of its color.
- Cartouche of Solidarity: When Cartouche of Solidarity enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 white Warrior creature token with vigilance.
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has first strike.
- Cartouche of Knowledge: When Cartouche of Knowledge enters the battlefield, draw a card.
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has flying.
- Cartouche of Ambition: When Cartouche of Ambition enters the battlefield, you may put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has lifelink.
Deck :
Trials and Cartouches have a built in synergy that make them really fun to play with since they allow you to “recycle” your Trials for multiple use.
Cards such as Riptide Chimera, Hall of Heliod's Generosity and Orzhov Charm in the deck try to maximize the “recycling” utility that the Trials and Cartouches provide so you can squeeze as much out of them as you can.
Riptide Chimera lets you recycle a Trial or Cartouche enchantment from the battlefield back into your hand for a number of fun combos:
- Recycle your removal via Trial of Ambition.
- Recycle your +2/+1 & vigilance creature buffs via Trial of Solidarity.
- Recycle a Cartouche of Solidarity off of one of your creatures back to your hand, recast it for a single white mana to get you another 1/1 warrior token with vigilance.
- Recycle a Cartouche of Ambition if you want to place another -1/-1 counter on an opponents creature. It may not seem worth recasting a 3 mana Cartouche for a single -1/-1 counter, but it’s a tool in your box if the need arises!
Orzhov Charm has excellent synergy with this deck:
- (Return target creature you control and all auras you control attached to it to their owners hand:) You can save your creature and it allows you to recycle your Cartouche auras for even more value.
- (Destroy target creature and you lose life equal to its toughness:) Cartouche of Ambition giving you lifelink helps mitigate the down side of this removal option.
- (Return target creature card with converted mana cost 1 from your graveyard to the battlefield:) You can use this option to bring back a Slippery Bogle or for extra value, use this option as a combat trick to return a Dauntless Bodyguard from your graveyard to the battlefield at instant speed, have it protect one of your attacking or blocking creatures then sacrifice it to give it indestructible!
Finally, Dauntless Bodyguard protects target creatures on Cartouche duty by giving them indestructible. Top candidates being Slippery Bogle and Kor Spiritdancer.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy playing the deck! Feedback and suggestions are always welcome and appreciated -Blackgate
