Historically, copy effects have always been an invaluable tool for both casual and constructed play. Whether you’re boosting a deck’s internal synergy or doubling up on massive threats, it’s hard to go wrong. At the top end, the best versions of copy effects only cost two mana, allowing for some serious shenanigans.
The spoiler season for Duskmourn: House of Horror has just blessed us with a new two-mana copy effect. Found on Silent Hallcreeper, there’s only a tiny catch to this otherwise excellent ability. Despite this power, the copy effect is miraculously the worst thing about this card. So much so, in fact, that many MTG players are looking for ways to stop it entirely!
Silent Hallcreeper
Each of the three abilities on Silent Hallcreeper is absolutely amazing. It’s no wonder they can only be used once. Unless they’re removed, this unblockable threat should crash in for seven damage and draw you a card. After that, they’ll become a copy of something else you control with +1/+1 counters intact.
While the progression of Silent Hallcreeper’s abilities makes sense in order, there’s no set structure. If you need card draw first, you can easily get that. The same is true for their copy effect which can be activated from as early as turn three. If you’ve cheated in a massive threat by then, there’s no need to wait around.
Thankfully, Silent Hallcreeper doesn’t even have to attack every turn. Subsequently, you can just have them lingering on your board until the time is right to copy something. While they are rather weak and susceptible to removal, being unblockable should make activating their abilities a breeze.
Ultimately, as good as copy effects are, you may want to avoid this technically non-optional ability as much as possible. Should you manage this, you get to keep an unblockable creature that crashes in for three, or maybe even more, every turn. Thankfully, there are a few ways to make exactly this happen.
Delaying the Inevitable
For starters, not having any other creatures on the board means that Silent Hallcreeper can’t copy anything. Since the ability will fizzle every time, you’re free to keep attacking with them every turn. While they’re hardly the biggest threat, an unblockable 3/3 is a decent option for grindy control decks.
While one Silent Hallcreeper is good, it gets even better when you play multiple copies. Should you copy one Silent Hallcreeper with another, the copy will have refreshed abilities, allowing them to be chosen again. This means more card draw and more buffs before yet another copy effect to restart the cycle.
Thanks to this implicit synergy with itself, Silent Hallcreeper may become a four of inclusion in many control and evasion-focused MTG decks. With multiple copies in play, you can be drawing cards every other turn, or seriously dishing out the hurt. As if this wasn’t good enough, you can technically run more than four copies in a single deck.
Should you add other copy effects, like Mockingbird, you can get up to eight Silent Hallcreepers in play. Admittedly achieving this before a game’s end is unlikely, but it nonetheless increases the chances of doubling up. Regardless of whether you lean fully into Silent Hallcreeper or not, this card is bound to see a lot of play.
Perfectly Playable
From the looks of things, Silent Hallcreeper seems destined to be a multiformat playable. In Standard, Hallcreeper is a new option for control decks that can whittle away at opponents over time. Meanwhile, in Commander, Silent Hallcreeper can be a copy engine for your biggest nonlegendary threats.
Outside of these two formats, it remains to be seen if Silent Hallcreeper will break into the more competitive MTG metagames. Potentially, it could stand a chance in Pioneer as a finisher for Azorius Control, but The Wandering Emperor already handles that. Modern, meanwhile, doesn’t really have an all-blue control deck that’s lacking damage.
Ultimately, even if they’re not a true multiformat staple that upends the competitive order, Silent Hallcreeper is a great MTG card. In Duskmourn limited they’re bound to be a bomb even if they do have to copy something else. Regardless of how you play them, Silent Hallcreeper just works.
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