THE Horse Challenge Review, part 1

·1 hr 28 min·5 clips

The hosts reveal they weaponized their audience to get a record 36+ submissions for the legendary horse saddle challenge.

The episode begins with Tim and Juliette introducing the March design challenge, 'Year of THE Horse', which required designing a legendary card with saddle. They note a record-breaking number of submissions, over 36, due to audience engagement. The hosts explain the saddle mechanic, comparing it to crew and noting its sorcery-speed timing and typical 'attacks while saddled' triggers. They then review a series of custom submissions. The first card, 'Yoshi' by Pat, is a dinosaur mount that lets you sacrifice it when blocked to make another creature unblocked, flavorfully representing a double-jump from platformer games. Next, 'Kellith, Teferi's Mount' by Albie creates a Knight token and grants an emblem that buffs Knights when it attacks saddled, reusing elements from existing Magic cards. 'Kytus, Fathom's Reach' by Dragon of the West is a nine-nine Leviathan that stuns itself when attacking unless saddled, offering a high-risk, high-reward design. 'Leo, the Library Lion' by Church Wizard is an eight-mana card that draws cards and stuns creatures when saddled, with no maximum hand size, aimed at Commander play. 'Andalou, Long Journey' by Juliette is a one-mana camel that exchanges control of lands and switches creatures' power and toughness when attacking saddled, creating disruptive gameplay. Other submissions include 'Prince Shiraz's Winged Wonder', which creates Ebony Horse tokens; 'Daretti's Cog Chair', an artifact mount that sacrifices artifacts to destroy permanents; 'Raska, Crashtar Alpha', a dinosaur with a downside unless saddled by a Knight; 'Genku, Who Gives Piggybacks', a Moonfolk that untaps and gives flying to attacking creatures; 'Evil and Intimidating Horse', a horror that punishes crimes and steals creatures; 'Two-Headed Rocket Elephant', a mythic with flying, double strike, and haste that damages you unless saddled by a legendary Knight; and 'Destrier, the Big Horse', a warhorse that scries and clashes when saddled by a legendary Knight. Throughout, the hosts discuss each card's mechanics, flavor, balance, and potential environments, often referencing existing Magic cards and sets. They reflect on how the legendary requirement helps saddle cards feel more distinct and memorable. The episode ends with the announcement of April's 'April Fool Us Planar Chaos' challenge, where submitters must either color-shift a real Magic card or create a custom card, with bonus points for including X in costs or having three lines of rules text.

As heard by us

A horse-themed design challenge becomes a clear, odd little lesson in how attacking creatures can dodge damage and stay in combat.

Beacon of Creation takes the crowded Year of THE Horse design challenge and turns it into a lively pass through one of Magic's stranger rules corners.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Want Ebony Horse to turn a combat trick into a rules argument, then canter straight into a saddle design challenge?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Beacon of Creation