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Post by kefke on Oct 12, 2021 2:29:38 GMT
Thank you! Today, Mark Roswater announced that he will be updating making an updated Mechanical Color Pie article next week. So, for this week, let's give the original article its last hurrah. Using THIS ARTICLE as your guide, your card must use and/or support only the non-primary aspects of its color(s).
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Post by viriss on Oct 12, 2021 3:12:13 GMT
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Post by hydraheadhunter on Oct 12, 2021 5:56:47 GMT
 | Aluu, Renowned Pacifist
A generic, a red, and a white
Legendary creature - Elephant Warrior Monk
If Aluu, Renowned Pacifist would deal damage,
draw that many cards instead.
If Aluu, Renowned Pacifist would be dealt damage,
sacrifice it unless you discard that many cards instead.
2/2
Art: A luxedon (elephant-person) in battle regalia
Art by: Mintbrush B. |
Technically, if you squint, you might be able to say Aluu is using "gasious form," an ability listed in the article as primary white, but firstly I don't really think gasious form is actually primary white ability: it's tertiary at best given the number of cards its been printed on ( ~3-5 of these 46 search result hits are actually gasious form effects), and secondly, I don't actually think Aluu is using "gasious form;" he just has two damage replacement abilities that mean damage can't be dealt to him or by him as a secondary consequence. |
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Post by sdfkjgh on Oct 12, 2021 17:52:54 GMT
Green is secondary in Banisher Priest effects, but we've yet to see it. Let's correct that, shall we?
Terrifying Predator  
Creature--Beast 
Trample
When Terrifying Predator enters the battlefield, exile target creature with power, toughness, and mana value each less than Terrifying Predator’s until Terrifying Predator leaves the battlefield.
6/5
hydraheadhunter: AW, DAMMIT! I guess it was your turn to correct me!
Ma'alward, Gibbering Confusion  Legendary Creature--Demon  Flying, vigilance
When Ma’alward, Gibbering Confusion enters the battlefield, each other creature gets +X/-X until end of turn, where X is half the amount of mana spent to cast this spell, rounded up. If a creature would die this turn, exile it until Ma’alward, Gibbering Confusion leaves the battlefield instead 4/4
The name is a subtle dig at MaRo, for those of you who know foreign languages. |
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Post by Daij_Djan on Oct 12, 2021 18:46:48 GMT
Today, Mark Roswater announced that he will be updating making an updated Mechanical Color Pie article next week. He will? That's awesome!
I really hope either the article will make the changes clear or that some content creator prepares a comparison  |
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Post by sdfkjgh on Oct 12, 2021 18:54:06 GMT
Today, Mark Roswater announced that he will be updating making an updated Mechanical Color Pie article next week. He will? That's awesome!
I really hope either the article will make the changes clear or that some content creator prepares a comparison Dude, aside from The MageLaughlin Group and my current FMK Shitpost, I'm pretty much done with longform in-depth analyses! |
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Post by kefke on Oct 12, 2021 20:56:04 GMT
Today, Mark Roswater announced that he will be updating making an updated Mechanical Color Pie article next week. He will? That's awesome!
I really hope either the article will make the changes clear or that some content creator prepares a comparison
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Post by Jartis on Oct 16, 2021 10:00:01 GMT
 Edit: Just realized this is Commander Game. Fix incoming. Edit 2: Forgot artist attribution as well, so the change was for the best. |
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Post by sdfkjgh on Oct 16, 2021 14:31:14 GMT
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Post by kefke on Oct 19, 2021 6:09:09 GMT
Time for judgement!
viriss - An enchantress being a druid seems odd to me, but if that's what WotC chose for Yavimaya Enchantress, then who am I to argue? A bit loaded for 3MV, but that's okay for a squishy legend. Overall fairly tight design, all tying back into the general enchantment support theme. The card draw engine is probably the weakest element of the theme, and also the sort of thing that would make this card sought-after for Green players. The other two abilities are a decent, but not super strong way to bolster forces, and shift auras around (at least until late game, and being Green helps here). Kind of wonder how it would interact with Gods, though.
hydraheadhunter - Even taking into account that it's technically not a gaseous form effect, and even taking into account that card draw is tertiary in White, and secondary in Red, the primary effects here still have damage prevention happening, and arguably rules setting. Overall, the combination produces something of an outlier for its colors, but I'm inclined to say that this design is a bit too dependant on technicality to count.
sdfkjgh - With all the great flying creatures in Black (and demons being Black's iconic creature type), I was a bit surprised to see that Flying was only considered Secondary. The +X/-X too feels like something Black does a lot, but again I was surprised to find that it's considered secondary when it's on creatures. Seemed a little odd to have a variable X tied to a fixed cost, but then I remembered that commander tax exists. The vigilance from Green feels a little tacked on, but not so badly that it doesn't work. On the other hand, the banisher effect feels very appropriate. I wonder if the card really needs green to make it work, though, or if the way it's used here couldn't have fallen under Black's themes of exiling from the graveyard, and graveyard-based "pseudo flicker". There's also a bit of ambiguity with the "this turn" in the effect on a permanent. I don't know off-hand if there's any official cards worded like that, but while I assume that it means for that effect to be tied to the previous, it would work better to either remove the condition (if it's always) or specify the turn it comes into play. Altogether, this is an interesting example of a card whose effects aren't primary, but when taken as a whole feels entirely in keeping with cards that are.
Jartis - This is a pretty tight design. Very simple muscle with just one ability, appropriately costed for what it does. Unique in being an indefinite switch, which could be both a blessing and a curse. If I had to criticize anything, it would be that while Kraunvika can be a commander, there's really not much benefit to him being so. He's mono-red, with an insular ability that makes him a reasonably flexible and cost-effective creature on-curve, but won't do him any favours with commander tax. At best, it just means you can get him back if an opponent takes advantage of his switched P/T leaving him vulnerable. He'd benefit well from untap abilities that Red on it's own doesn't get unless it's a bend/break. Being an elemental offers a theme to build around, but his ability only affecting himself isn't really helping to inform or support that theme. Ultimately, he feels like a solid creature to include in a deck doing Red elementals, but not one to lead it.
Interesting designs all around, and very creative work from all of you. The winner this time around is sdfkjgh.
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Post by sdfkjgh on Oct 19, 2021 16:00:56 GMT
kefke: Hey thanks for the win. Because you were wondering about the , take a look
Ok, let's get really crazy. I want a generic-costed  commander in the style of Tek or Tribal Golem. The more esoteric the ability-granting conditions, the better. You have two weeks. |
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Post by viriss on Oct 20, 2021 3:17:23 GMT
 {Previous render}  |
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Post by Jartis on Oct 20, 2021 3:41:13 GMT
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Post by ZephyrPhantom on Oct 20, 2021 5:10:10 GMT
Unformed  Creature - Incarnation  Whenever you produce mana for the first time each turn, apply the following effect based on the color of mana produced.  : The next spell cast this turn costs  more to cast.  : Draw a card. : Each player loses 1 life and you gain life equal to the life lost this way.  : Untap and goad target creature. It gains haste until end of turn. : Add . 0/1 This started as a Nameless Race Commander that I decided would be better of representing some kind of incarnated molecular reaction in the creation of mana. Note that this will be wasted if you produce  or some other bizarre kind of mana. This is intentional.
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Sanfonier of the Night
7/7 Elemental
Posts: 399
Favorite Card: The Prismatic Bridge
Favorite Set: War of the Spark
Color Alignment: White, Blue, Black, Red, Green, Colorless
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Post by Sanfonier of the Night on Oct 20, 2021 12:32:59 GMT
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Post by hydraheadhunter on Oct 20, 2021 12:42:41 GMT
Soraih, Artifical Assistant Three Generic Legendary Artifact Creature - Golem Partner Soraih is the colors of its partner (If it is not your commander or has no partner, it is colorless). Cards you own have cycling 3 as long as Soraih is white, expediate 3 as long as Soraih is blue, flashback pay 3 life and this card’s cost as long as Soraih is black, madness pay 3 life and half this card’s cost rounded up as long as Soraih is red, ward 3 as long as Soraih is green, and this spell costs 3 less as long as Soraih is colorless. 3/3
Expediate <cost> (You may pay an additional <cost> to cast this spell as though it had flash.) The cards probably too good as written currently, but a 3 motif started forming, and unlike griselbrand, I'mma just go with it. |
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Sanfonier of the Night
7/7 Elemental
Posts: 399
Favorite Card: The Prismatic Bridge
Favorite Set: War of the Spark
Color Alignment: White, Blue, Black, Red, Green, Colorless
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Post by Sanfonier of the Night on Oct 20, 2021 12:54:59 GMT
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Post by Jartis on Oct 21, 2021 5:09:49 GMT
Sanfonier of the Night As far as card effects are concerned. It's 5 color as far as being a commander is concerned. Edit: If you meant the frame, that was more personal preference than anything to do with the actual printing process. It didn't look right in the base frame, or artifact, or colorless, so I kinda just went with the generic multicolor frame because I thought it looked nice
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Post by Daij_Djan on Oct 21, 2021 12:51:31 GMT
Here's my take on the challenge! I decided to care about three mana because of Adamant - and while it doesn't matter for its own effect, that's pretty much why I decided to make Yeras itself a three-drop just for the sake of symmetry  |
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Sanfonier of the Night
7/7 Elemental
Posts: 399
Favorite Card: The Prismatic Bridge
Favorite Set: War of the Spark
Color Alignment: White, Blue, Black, Red, Green, Colorless
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Post by Sanfonier of the Night on Oct 21, 2021 13:31:21 GMT
Sanfonier of the Night As far as card effects are concerned. It's 5 color as far as being a commander is concerned. Edit: If you meant the frame, that was more personal preference than anything to do with the actual printing process. It didn't look right in the base frame, or artifact, or colorless, so I kinda just went with the generic multicolor frame because I thought it looked nice It was the frame, I know the color identity is 5 colors, it was only that the frame was different. If it was your choice, I understand. |
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Post by hydraheadhunter on Oct 21, 2021 14:23:00 GMT
Here's my take on the challenge! I decided to care about three mana because of Adamant - and while it doesn't matter for its own effect, that's pretty much why I decided to make Yeras itself a three-drop just for the sake of symmetry your sphinx's blue mana and keyword are in the wrong place. Also, you might want to consider a different keyword, as there's only one canon walking sphinx, and it's white. Nevermind: on closer inspection of the card, I've realized that that's the point. Whoopsiedoodle. |
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Post by ZephyrPhantom on Oct 22, 2021 23:11:11 GMT
Here's my take on the challenge! I decided to care about three mana because of Adamant - and while it doesn't matter for its own effect, that's pretty much why I decided to make Yeras itself a three-drop just for the sake of symmetry Now that's an interesting brainteaser of a card. Small nitpick, I think there should be a comma after "Dragons" |
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Post by Flo00 on Oct 22, 2021 23:55:15 GMT
The Allannone  Legendary Creature - Shapeshifter Play with the top card of your library revealed. : If mana spent to this ability shares a color with the top card fo your library, creatures you control gain the indicated abilities until end of turn. —first strike and lifelink. —hexproof and flying. —deathtouch and lifelink. —first strike and flying. —deathtouch and hexproof. 5/5 I took quite some time to make this ability compact enough to nicely fit a text box. |
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Post by hydraheadhunter on Oct 23, 2021 4:44:19 GMT
Here's my take on the challenge! I decided to care about three mana because of Adamant - and while it doesn't matter for its own effect, that's pretty much why I decided to make Yeras itself a three-drop just for the sake of symmetry Now that's an interesting brainteaser of a card. Small nitpick, I think there should be a comma after "Dragons" Oh if we're gonna critique grammar and punctuation,... oxford cammas and semi-colons list. Assuming you care about the little brown handbook have to say about punctation, when you have a complex list, whose items themselves use commas, the commas between the list's items get promoted to semi-colons to make the items of the list easier to grock as distinct. So, - The same is true for Sphinxes, red mana and first strike, Demons, green mana and trample, Dragons, white mana and vigilance, and Hydras, blue mana and flying.
becomes - The same is true for Sphinxes, red mana and first strike; Demons, green mana and trample; Dragons, white mana and vigilance; and Hydras, blue mana and flying.
then add in the oxford commas and you get - The same is true for Sphinxes, red mana, and first strike; Demons, green mana, and trample; Dragons, white mana, and vigilance; and Hydras, blue mana, and flying.
This is of course, only if you care to follow the style guide laid out by the little brown handbook or other similar style guides; you can always do whatever you want: I ain't no prescriptivist.
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Post by Daij_Djan on Oct 27, 2021 23:58:00 GMT
Now that's an interesting brainteaser of a card. Small nitpick, I think there should be a comma after "Dragons" Thanks, that's pretty much what I was going for Also yeah, there should be one following the comma rulings I followed - definitely didn't expect my entry to spark a full-blown grammar lesson, though  The semi-colons are a good idea though, if I wasn't too lazy to redo the render, I'd definitely add them in |
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MonkeyChewToy
1/1 Squirrel
Back in the Saddle
Posts: 52
Favorite Card: Darksteel Relic
Favorite Set: Battlebond
Color Alignment: Blue, Green
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Post by MonkeyChewToy on Oct 28, 2021 2:21:26 GMT
kefke : Hey thanks for the win. Because you were wondering about the , take a look
Ok, let's get really crazy. I want a generic-costed commander in the style of Tek or Tribal Golem. The more esoteric the ability-granting conditions, the better. You have two weeks. 
| Ramos, Savior of Mercadia 
["The Great Dragon Bastion" by Shaun Williams]
Legendary Artifact — Vehicle
Ramos, Savior of Mercadia can be your commander.
Protection from Phyrexians
Ramos gets +1/+2 if you control a white Rebel, has flying if you control a blue Pirate, gets +2/+1 if you control a black Mercenary, has menace if you control a red Soldier, and has trample if you control a green Druid.
: Ramos becomes a Dragon artifact creature until end of turn.
5/5
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Took me a while to settle on a design for this. I finally decided to take a crack at reimagining Ramos, Dragon Engine because while I feel the card pays homage to the "Bones of Ramos", it doesn't really convey how Ramos shepherded the people of Argoth through Phyrexia to safety on Mercadia after Urza detonated the Golgothian Sylex. Rather than look merely at colors of permanents or land types, I wanted to focus on the people of Mercadia—specifically, the defining classes of the Humans descended from Ramos's initial rescue. And since I didn't want Ramos to be fully-powered off of one Woodland Changeling, I put a color with each class so you at least kind of have to build a Mercadia-themed deck to make use of it. (Though a Transguild Courier holding a Runed Stalactite still does the trick.) This gave me: white Rebels, blue Pirates, black Mercenaries, red Soldiers, and green Druids. (That last one is kind of a stretch, but pickings were slim. And hey, there's almost no Druid tribal in the game, so why not give them some time to shine?) Since this version of Ramos is a Vehicle, (how else do you shuttle survivors through the multiverse?), I added the line allowing it to be a commander even though it's not a creature in the command zone, and finally I gave it protection from Phyrexians so it could bring people through Phyrexia safely. All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out, much more than my initial plan: a fun Scarecrow tribal commander that basically nobody would ever play while Reaper King exists.  Just for kicks, that card is spoiler'd below: |
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Post by ZephyrPhantom on Oct 28, 2021 16:37:27 GMT
"Protection from Phyrexians" is a really fitting effect. I wouldn't be surprised if WoTC uses it in the future now that they've made the type official.
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Post by sdfkjgh on Oct 28, 2021 22:49:57 GMT
Well, I must say, it seems as though everyone's having a lot of fun with this prompt. Lucky me, just stumbling onto the idea.
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Post by sdfkjgh on Nov 3, 2021 2:01:48 GMT
Judging!
viriss: A pretty standard, decent interpretation of the Challenge. Nothing flashy, and so close to the / divide that I wouldn't have batted an eye if you did decide to show it at the lower rarity. I did say "in the style of Tribal Golem", and you really went hard on that.
Jartis: Well, this is a bit more esoteric, but cards like Prismatic Omen and The World Tree make the conditions trivially easy to fulfill. That's not necessarily a knock against you, I'm just wondering if you had them in mind during your design process. I would've liked to've seen this at  (maybe even ) and not , as it's just a 5/5 pseudo-Akroma beatstick, with no protective abilities, and no haste. Sanfonier of the Night is right about it technically being colorless, but I'ma let it slide, as its color identity for Commander purposes is .
ZephyrPhantom: NOW we're talking! Keying off the color of mana produced for the first time each turn is pretty frikkin' esoteric, but why would you make penalize itself? Did you intend to make it make the next spell cast cost less, and just had a brainfart? 's ability is a little too stronk, mebbe nerf it down to scry 1 or 2; 's should be cut down to the current design of "each {other player/opponent} loses 1 life & you gain 1 life", especially for multiplayer, since you could just add during each other player's turn and gain life=# players; but other than that, a very interesting design.
hydraheadhunter: Hooboy, where to begin. I needed to render your entry myself, and after correcting a few templating mistakes (and one spelling mistake), this is what the rules text looks like:
Partner (You can have two commanders if both have partner.)
Soraih is the colors of its partner. (If it is not your commander or has no partner, it is colorless.)
Cards you own have cycling 3 as long as Soraih is white, expedite 3 as long as Soraih is blue, “Flashback—Pay 3 life and this card’s mana cost” as long as Soraih is black, “Madness—Pay 3 life and half this card’s mana cost rounded up” as long as Soraih is red, ward 3 as long as Soraih is green, and “This spell costs 3 less to cast” as long as Soraih is colorless.
If we were to do something to make this easier to parse, it might look a little something like this:
Partner (You can have two commanders if both have partner.)
Soraih is the colors of its partner. (If it is not your commander or has no partner, it is colorless.)
As long as Soraih is one or more colors, cards you own have the following abilities—
• —Cycling 3 ( , Discard this card: Draw a card.)
• —Expedite 3 (You may cast this spell as though it had flash if you pay more to cast it.)
• —Flashback—Pay 3 life and this card’s mana cost. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
• —Madness—Pay 3 life and half this card’s mana cost rounded up (If you discard this card, discard it into exile. When you do, cast it for its madness cost or put it into your graveyard.)
• —Ward 3
As long as Soraih is colorless, cards you own have “This spell costs less to cast.”
Leaving aside for a moment the fact that an upgrade to flash has traditionally only cost , how, exactly, would you split the cost ? Is it ? ? ? If you're wondering about that last one, half of , rounded up is , and half of , rounded up is . Each one is surprisingly valid, and that's not even getting into costs like  . Also, if you're gonna go so hard into the concept of threes, why half, and not one third?
All in all, it seems like you went too deep into the weeds of a concept, and forgot to pull back a bit to see if it makes any sense. Don't get too discouraged, I do this all the damn time. Just look at No Reservations IIanything I post, really. Yes, even this posting.
Sanfonier of the Night: Aside from the poor templating, and the questionable canonicity of any new legendary Eldrazi (I assume at some point Big Momma Em's gotta come out of that moon, and when she does, she might need to make some more of herself, in order to fill the roles of her "siblings"), the gist of your design is still easily grokkable, and keying off of colors of mana an opponent could produce is highly esoteric, and quite interesting. Because you can't control what abilities it has (short of cards like Prismatic Omen) you could've easily kept the mana value at 9, instead of 12. But these are all relatively minor quibbles.
Daij_Djan: I'm tempted to give you a few extra credit points just for sparking a minor debate about the Oxford comma, but then people'd prolly accuse me of favoritism, since you're my Editor and all, so I'd have to dock you those points so I don't look like I'm playing favorites, then someone else'd prolly accuse me of trying to cover up some favoritism, or exhibiting reverse favoritism (since I'd be coming down harder on you), and at this point, I should just stop and find a map back to the point. Now, where were we?
Ah yes, in-depth discussions about proper grammar and punctuationyour entry. hydraheadhunter, THIS is how you go deep on a theme! Atom AntAdamant+enemy colors & their abilities is amazing, and while I'm not sure how this would be done properly, I still wanna find out.
Flo00: hydraheadhunter, this is also how to execute on the concept it seems like you were reaching for. Keep reaching, for 'tis better to attempt and fail than to never attempt at all. Flo00, this is a clean, simple design, that hides a lot of board complexity and trickery.
MonkeyChewToy: Monkey pull lever, monkey get banana!While you went with a more staid design like viriss, your choice of lore, and the correction of implementation thereof, are where you innovated, and that alone is worth the consideration. It took me until just now to realize you didn't even include a crew ability, not that one is even needed, as you still added an animating ability all the same. I like this design, but I also like your Scarecrow, even if you're right that Reaper's still King.
In the end, I've gotta say damn the potential cries, and give it to Daij_Djan, with @omnividrus and MonkeyChewToy a close second. Good job errbody. |
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Post by hydraheadhunter on Nov 3, 2021 3:25:15 GMT
For the record, I was thinking that two generic and two green would be half of three generic and three green rounded up, yes. It seems really unuseful for three generic and three green, but it'd pop off for four generic and two green, which forces you to consider cost during deck building. You're right that I went too ham on the range of effects; I was looking for a way to change how the spells are able to be played, which would be fine as five separate cards, but was just too much for a single card to bare; but you said, "the more esoteric the ability-granting conditions, the better," and I took that to also apply to the abilities granted. |
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"When in doubt, do a common." 
Just for kicks, that card is spoiler'd below:
: Untap target Scarecrow if you control an Island.
: Scarecrows you control gain persist until end of turn if you control a Swamp and haste until end of turn if you control a Mountain.
: Scarecrows you control gain wither until end of turn if you control a Forest and vigilance until end of turn if you control a Plains.