Mindslaver (Breaking News) - Gossip Goblin
More cards with art by Gossip Goblin on Scryfall
seen from China

seen from India

seen from Canada

seen from Poland

seen from Malaysia

seen from Malaysia

seen from United States
seen from Belgium

seen from Austria
seen from Slovakia

seen from Slovakia
seen from Paraguay
seen from China

seen from Canada
seen from Hong Kong SAR China
seen from United Kingdom
seen from China

seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from China
Mindslaver (Breaking News) - Gossip Goblin
More cards with art by Gossip Goblin on Scryfall
Advent calendar: The Artifacts of Magic: The Gathering — 2nd December 2017
Mindslaver by Glen Angus (Mirrodin)
Mindslaver
Invention Heralded as Revolutionary—Reviewer Gives Million-Star Rating
Artist: Gossip Goblin TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link
That Old Mindslaver Thing
(I wrote this two years ago but figured I should put it up on here. Might require some understanding of MtG.)
Magic's such a hard game isn't it? So much math and so many strategic decisions to make, having to stop and consider complex rules interactions and layers, predict the likelihood of certain events occurring...
It would be a lot less strenuous if someone else were doing all that for you, wouldn't it? Handing off all that conflict so you weren't bogged down in all the minutia. Weighed down by the complexity.
Don't worry about how that someone is your opponent. Disagreements are so taxing-- they wear you out so easily. And competition is hard. If you don't want things to be so hard you need to give up on that and follow their direction.
It's easier to cast that Thoughtseize on yourself. You only have one other card left, so there's no choice to make. No heavy, complicated options to weigh. It's a perfectly simple play to make. Doesn't that make sense?
That fetchland that lets you search for a swamp *or* a forest? You've got so many lands that fit those criteria-- how could you ever possibly choose one out of all of them? Just sacrifice it and fail to find anything. That's a perfectly valid play. Perfectly. Simple.
Now it's time for you to attack. You glance at your creatures but all the numbers on them are jumbled up. Just swing all out-- math is for blockers anyway! Isn't that easy? You haven't had to do any math at all this turn so why start now? Swing swing swing!
See how clear your board is now? The fewer permanents you have, the simpler everything gets. Go to your end step, and thank the wonderful person sitting across from you for their help clearing all those complexities out of your mind.
Then watch them activate their Academy Ruins so they can keep helping you, again and agan and again...
More to come
Didn't post much today, but that's because I'm working on a 2-part article about ways a turn can go sideways. So far I'm still on the first article, and I finally got past untap. It doesn't sound like much, but the paragraphs before it had a lot more information than I expected. Perhaps I'll supplement some information from it.
So, a brief note on substitutions (since that seems a well-liked topic): there are 4 cards with the Mindslaver ability. Mindslaver, of course, which takes 10 mana and is legendary (but Daretti likes it). Emrakul, the Promised End is also colorless, but costs 13 mana (possibly down to just 5) and triggers when cast: this could be used repeatedly with bounce, but gives your opponent an extra turn if they live through your control. Sorin Markov has this ability as his ultimate. Worst Fears is 8 mana, and exiles itself on resolution.
Hulk Smash!!!
Jerry adds some Gearhulks to the spice cabinet with a fun new Legacy Golbin Welder brew.
Read this article on Hipsters of the Coast
Say I'm at a competitive REL. I control Mindslaver, Academy Ruins, and enough mana to execute a lock where I recur and take control of my opponents turn repeatedly, tapping all of their lands during each turn, over and over until they draw their deck. Presuming my opponent refuses to concede, how would I propose a proper shortcut to expedite the process? Is either of us liable for slow play?
Your opponent can’t deny you the loop unless they plan to break it somehow. You’ll need to add a bit about what you intend to do when their hand is too big though, so something like “you’ll discard the most recently drawn cards if you have to discard during your cleanup step.”
Cards which allow you to control what your opponents do during their turns.
Artworks in order (links to cards on gatherer):
1. Mindslaver by Volkan Baga
2. Sorin Markov by Michael Komarck
3. Worst Fears by Eric Deschamps
Visit the Archives for more themed posts.