Wild Mongrel

Dog Trivia

It's my Birthday. However, my dog passed away today at 15 years old. So, can I please request your best Dog trivia? Thank you.

I put a cycle of Dogs in Odyssey as a favor for Randy Buehler. (Wild Mongrel being the most famous.) He did it for his friend Erik Lauer. Happy Birthday and so sorry about your dog.

Appreciation Birthday Cycles Dog Erik Lauer Odyssey Wild Mongrel

Cycle or Discard Wording

Re: The "cycle or discard a card" wording--this isn't the same as "when you cycle a card" as it works off things like Wild Mongrel or Merfolk Looter. "Cycle or discard" is the same was "when you discard a card", which makes sense in Amonkhet when you have graveyard mechanics fed by discarding through other means, less sense in Ikoria when cycling is the only major discard effect.

A fine point.

Amonkhet Cycling Discard Mechanics Merfolk Merfolk Looter The Graveyard Wild Mongrel

Green's Ability Continuation

Hey Mark, is the Wild Mongrel/Noose Constrictor ability still something green could do?

Sure.

Green Noose Constrictor Wild Mongrel

Hybrid Cards Explanation

Even though hybrid cards can be cast with only a single colour, they aren't a single colour. When you have Balefire Liege on the battlefield and cast a Boros Reckoner, you get to bolt an opponent and gain 3 life, regardless of whether you're in a mono-white deck, mono-red deck, or a RW deck. Commander isn't about what cards you can cast, it's a deckbuilding restriction on colour identity, and Boros Reckoner is always Red and White, even if you're only planning to cast it with a single colour.

Color identity is about what colors are required to cast or activate you. There are plenty of cards that can become a color that is different from what cast them (Caldera Kavu, Kavu Chameleon, Painter’s Servant, Rainbow Crow, Scrapbasket, Spiritmonger,Wild Mongrel, etc.) that don’t require you playing a five-color commander.

Activate Balefire Liege Boros (R/W) Boros Reckoner Caldera Kavu Cast Color Identity Colors Commander Hybrid Kavu Kavu Chameleon Rainbow Crow Red Scrapbasket Spiritmonger White Wild Mongrel

Cycling/Discard Synergy

RE: Cycling/Discard redundancy on cards - I understand that having both on there opens them up to playing them with non-cycling cards, but with the amount of cards that already have cycling, do the cards really change that much if they only triggered off of cycling? Does the Demon really need to have the chance to pair with Wild Mongrel at a kitchen table to wipe everything away at the cost of this supposed confusion?

The change was made because it lessened confusion. And we want the functionality of interacting with discard as that’s a major theme in Standard.

Casual Play Cycling Demon Discard Standard Wild Mongrel

Green Colour Changing

Is "colour changing" still in Green's colour pie? (eg. Wild Mongrel and Spiritmonger)

We’ve greatly lessened color mattering so it’s not something we’ve had to address for a long time. Maybe.

Colors Green Spiritmonger Wild Mongrel

Wild Mongrel Trivia

It's my birthday! Since noose constrictor was spoiled today, do you have any trivia on it? Did it once have Wild Mongrel's color change ability since it's the same color as the skull it's near? If not, any trivia on Wild Mongrel would be cool. :)

Wild Mongrel was part of a cycle of dog (Okay, Hounds) that we made because Randy Buehler had a friend who loves dogs. His friend? Erik Lauer, who went on to become Head Developer. Happy Birthday!

Birthday Colors Cycles Dog Erik Lauer Noose Constrictor Wild Mongrel

Dog Birthday Trivia

Today is my dog's birthday. Can she have some Hound trivia?

Odyssey had a Hound cycle, the most famous of which is Wild Mongrel. We made that cycle because Odyssey’s lead developer, Randy Buehler, had a Magic-playing friend that loves dogs and Randy wanted to give him one in each color. That friend? Future Head Developer Erik Lauer. Happy Birthday!

Birthday Colors Dog Erik Lauer Odyssey Wild Mongrel

Hound Trivia

I sick as a dog, could I get some trivia on hounds?

There is a hound cycle in Odyssey (of which Wild Mongrel is a part). That got made a hound cycle because Randy Buehler argued that one of his friends really wanted a dog in every color. That friend was Erik Lauer, the current Head Developer. I have tried, on three different occasions to get the creature type changed from “hound” to “dog” as hounds are a subset of dog, but have somehow lost the argument every time. I hope you feel better!

Birthday Colors Creatures Dog Erik Lauer Odyssey Wild Mongrel

Dog Birthday Trivia

Today is my dog's birthday, could he get some hound trivia?

There is a cycle of dogs, I mean hounds, in Odyssey (of which Wild Mongrel is a part) because Randy Buehler pushed for them to be hounds because his friend really wanted a dog in every color of Magic. His friend’s name - Erik Lauer. Woof! Woof! (Happy Birthday!)

Birthday Colors Cycles Dog Erik Lauer Odyssey Wild Mongrel

Odyssey Flavor Excellence

The best flavor texts of all times are from odyssey, i think you did a great job. Wild mongrel, gorilla titan and so many others.

I experimented a lot. Thanks.

Flavor Gorilla Titan Odyssey Wild Mongrel

Pun Appreciation

Btw I wrote the werebear question at an attempt in using some pun humor. I didn't mention Wild Mongrel's silly flavor text because I didn't want to discard everything you wrote. I mean doing so would be madness :)

I got a lot of guff for not acknowledging your use of “unbearable”. He said “madness”, okay? : )

Appreciation Discard Flavor Humor Madness Werebear Wild Mongrel

One With Nothing Defense

The problem with One With Nothing is that even if you need to discard your hand for some quirky Johnny combo, there are numerous cards that do it better. Putrid Imp, Lion's Eye Diamond, Wild Mongrel, etc. It's not giving Johnnies anything they didn't have before.

You’re thinking Johnny/Spikes. This card is for the Uber-Johnnies that want a challenge to show what they can do. Anyone can win with Delver of Secrets but winning with One With Nothing - now that’s a challenge.

Discard Eye Imp Johnny / Jenny Lion's Eye Diamond One with Nothing Putrid Imp Spike Wild Mongrel Your Hand