Card
Mendicant Core, Guidelight
Mana cost {W}{U}
Legendary Artifact Creature — Robot */3
Mendicant Core's power is equal to the number of artifacts you control. Start your engines! (If you have no speed, it starts at 1. It increases once on each of your turns when an opponent loses life. Max speed is 4.) Max speed — Whenever you cast an artifact spell, you may pay {1}. If you do, copy it. (The copy becomes a token.)
No bracket restriction: playable from bracket 1. Part of 10 known combos. 8 official rulings.
- Commander
- Legal
- Printing
- Rare · DFT · #213
- Cheapest printing
- €0.59
- EDHREC salt
- 0.46
- Color identity
- Blue, White
- Keywords
- Max speed, Start your engines!
Bracket
- B1 Exhibition — allowed: No restriction at this bracket
- B2 Core — allowed: No restriction at this bracket
- B3 Upgraded — allowed: No restriction at this bracket
- B4 Optimized — allowed: No restriction beyond the banned list
- B5 cEDH — allowed: No restriction beyond the banned list
Why
- No Game Changer, mass land denial, extra turn, tutor or two-card combo
How Lotus Vault estimates a bracket
Bracket: Lotus Vault analysis, with Commander Spellbook flags
Combos
10 known combos.
- Mendicant Core, Guidelight + Urza, Lord High Artificer + Worldwalker Helm
Produces: Infinite blue mana, Exile your library, Cast all spells in your library
View on Commander Spellbook - Mendicant Core, Guidelight + Sensei's Divining Top + Krark-Clan Ironworks
Produces: Infinite card draw, Infinite draw triggers, Near-infinite storm count
View on Commander Spellbook - Mendicant Core, Guidelight + Krark-Clan Ironworks + Myr Retriever
Produces: Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB, Infinite creature sacrifice triggers
View on Commander Spellbook
Combos: Commander Spellbook
Rulings
- 2025-02-07 · Wizards of the Coast
“Max speed — [ability]” means “As long as you have max speed, this object has [ability].” If the granted ability functions in a zone other than the battlefield, the max speed ability does too. - 2025-02-07 · Wizards of the Coast
If an effect needs to know what a player’s speed is and that player doesn’t have a speed, their speed is considered 0. - 2025-02-07 · Wizards of the Coast
The copy remembers any decisions that were made for the original spell as it was cast, including values chosen for X in its mana cost and whether any alternative or additional costs were chosen. For example, if the original artifact spell had kicker and its kicker cost was paid, the copy will also be kicked. - 2025-02-07 · Wizards of the Coast
A resolving copy of a permanent spell becomes a token, so the token isn’t “created.” Effects that care about a token being created won’t interact with a token that enters the battlefield from Mendicant Core’s last ability. - 2025-02-07 · Wizards of the Coast
A player “has max speed” if their speed is 4. - 2025-02-07 · Wizards of the Coast
Start your engines! isn’t a triggered ability. Increasing your speed to 1 is something that happens as a state-based action as soon as you control a permanent with the ability. Notably, this includes gaining control of a permanent with the ability that another player controls. - 2025-02-07 · Wizards of the Coast
Your speed doesn’t change until a spell or ability says so, such as the inherent triggered ability that cares about opponents losing life during your turn. Notably, losing control of permanents with start your engines! doesn’t affect your speed. - 2025-02-07 · Wizards of the Coast
Each player tracks their speed (or lack thereof) separately. Increasing your speed has no effect on whether another player has speed.
Rulings: Scryfall · Wizards of the Coast