Mystery Booster/Test cards

Mystery Booster

 

Test cards

 

Test card

The convention edition packs of the Mystery Booster contain a pretend "playtest card". These so-called test cards feature black and white card faces that look like they have been stickered on cards with a regular card frame of the appropriate color. The card names are pretended funny placeholders, and the cards lack Collector numbers and artist credits (the "temporary" illustrations are created by various R&D members). Test cards are not meant for Constructed play, but may be used in Chaos Draft.

Card list

Card name	Color	Notes
Banding Sliver		Makes fun of the complicated rules for Banding, by filling the card's text box with reminder text.
Baneslayer Aspirant		First non-planeswalker to interact with emblems. Abilities refer to Baneslayer Angel
Enroll in the Coalition		Designates a player as a Flagbearer. Flavored after the Invasion block's Coalition.
Five Kids in a Trenchcoat		A pop culture cliche in which some children attempt to fool others into believing they're one adult. First card to use the Citizen creature type, and first card to count as multiple copies of itself when target of an effect.
Frontier Explorer		A Wish for Plains. A design alternative for a basic land token.
Imaginary Friends		Only playable in very specific combo decks, like Aristocrats or wide decks that have anthems. Hence the return of Arcane.
Metagamer		Highlighting a new player type, that chooses their cards to counter decks that are popular in the metagame.
Priority Avenger		Grants the controlling player priority.
Ruff, Underdog Champ		References R&D's Dog versus Hound debate. Introduces the Underdog mechanic, which effects overstep the boundary between games in a match.
Sarah's Wings		A play On Serra's Wings. Grants Flying to a player.
Scaled Destruction		Defines small, medium and large creatures.
Stack of Paperwork		Revives the pre-Magic 2010 rule that combat damage uses the stack.
Wizened Arbiter		Wishes for white cards.
You're in Command		Enables a player to change any of their creatures into their Commander (even if it is non-Legendary). First card to reference Commander tax.
Animate Spell		An animating Aura that specifically targets sorceries and Instant spells on the stack. Effectively a Counterspell that grants a creature.
Biting Remark		First card with Scrycast, meaning it can be cast by a special cost (in this case, for free) if you Scry it. A ‘biting remark' is usually intended to hurt the person at whom the words are directed.
Command the Chaff		A steal effect that reaches into the opponent's Sideboard. Sideboard cards are mostly chaff.
Control Win Condition		A whale that grows bigger according to the number of turns its controller has played. Literally, a Control win condition.
Do-over		Restarts a turn, especially useful on an opponents turn.
Enchantmentize		An Aura that can turn a creature into an enchantment, but allowing it to keep all its abilities. Essentially a reversal of the Theros Gods.
Form of the Mulldrifter		A Tribal Enchantment that pokes fun on the other "Form of" cards, like Form of the Dragon, that can change all summoned creatures into a Mulldrifter. Notice that it doesn't describe the characteristics of Mulldriffter.
Innocuous Insect		First creature with Buyback. Also has flash and an Enters the battlefield effect. It is an annoying Eldrazi Insect.
Khod, Etlan Shiis Envoy		A Lord for several underwater creature types including Homarids, Camarids, Cephalids and Nautilids and Merfolk, that can also change all lands into Islands. Notice that in the current timeline, there's is no room for Homarids in Etlan Shiis.
Learned Learner		A creature that can tap for a card, as long as the player has a hand size different than 7.
Loopy Lobster		First four-faced card (a Level up variant. First card to feature the Lobster creature type (the Unglued Rock Lobster only featured the type in Oracle).
Memory Bank		Introduction of the Bank mechanic. This is a draw Spell that gets exiled after been cast, but can be cast from exile during different games in the same match.
Recycla-bird		Introduction of flying counters. A target creature gains flying.
Squidnapper		Together with Frogkin Kidnapper, introduces the Ransom mechanic. An opponent's creature is taken under control by the kidnapper until a ransom cost has been paid.
The Grand Tour		This card makes fun of mechanics like transform, where creatures are exiled and then immediately return to the battlefield. Pictured is Fblthp getting lost on Amonkhet, on Innistrad (the Helvault), Tarkir (Tomb of the Spirit Dragon), Rabiah (City of Brass) and on Dominaria (Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth).
Time Sidewalk		A Time Walk spell that, if is in your opening hand, creates four Time Walk tokens and shuffle them into your deck. The cost of the card is four times that of the original card. The use of sorcery tokens bypasses the Reserved List restrictions.
Truth or Dare		A modal spell with Anchor words that keywords the Mill mechanic.
Visitor from Planet Q		First creature with the Alien type and first Instant Creature, also turning all creatures with Flash into Instants. Loots anytime a card with multiple card types are played.
Blood Poet		First creature with the Spark mechanic.
Bone Rattler		A token creating creature that places the tokens in the graveyard instead of on the battlefield. First time a creature token can actually go to the graveyard. The tokens are Reassembling Skeletons.
Buried Ogre		Poking fun at Reanimator decks, this card may start the game in the graveyard.
Celestine Cave Witch		Sacrifices insects to create curse enchantment tokens.
Chimney Goyf		A Goyf that can make a target opponent topdeck a card from his hand.
Corrupted Key		An artifact with a tap ability, but no way of tapping itself. Introduces the Key-subtype. Seems to be stickered on a blue card with a black mana cost.
Cyclopean Titan		A creature that turns other lands into Swamps, and that can return to its owner's hand. Twice as big as Cyclopean Giant from Time Spiral. Seems to be stickered onto a Cyclopean Giant.
Everlasting Lich		A 4/0 creature that is indestructible, can't be sacrificed and doesn't go to the graveyard for having zero toughness. The quintessential Lich.
Frogkin Kidnapper		Together with Squidnapper, introduces the Ransom mechanic. A card from the opponent's hand is exiled until the Ransom cost is paid.
Gunk Slug		A creature that, when entering the battlefield, creates three useless Gunk sorcery tokens with expensive Cycling costs and shuffles them into the opponent's deck, clogging it. The gunk mechanic was originally designed by Richard Garfield.
Largepox		A play on both Pox and Smallpox, that does one of every negative effect existent in the game.
One with Death		Poking fun at One with Nothing, this card causes the player to immediately lose the game. A challenge for all Johnnies out there.
Spellmorph Raise Dead		First card with spellmorph, a variation of Morph that affects Instants and sorceries instead of creatures. A strictly better Raise Dead.
Sunimret		An exact mirror of Terminus (including in name), first card with Reverse miracle, that can be cast for an special cost if it is in the bottom of the deck when you search for it.
Swarm of Locus		A play on Locust Swarm, this creature gains a bonus for each Locus you control.
Underdark Beholder		A D&D crossover that was blocked by Hasbro before, this creature has eyestalk counters that are removed instead of being dealt damage, and can cast a spell for free whenever it attacks.
Witty Demon		A creature that gives you a bonus if your deck has 13 cards above the minimum required by the format, and punishes you otherwise, essentially punishing deck optmization.
Xyru Specter		Introduces the bluffing mechanic of Challenge.
Yawgmoth's Testament		A play on Yawgmoth's Will, that allows you to play cards from exile, but places all cards that would go to the Graveyard or into exile on the bottom of your deck.
Bombardment		Turns every card in your hand into a Red Sorcery named Missile that are essentially Shocks.
Geometric Weird		A Weird whose power and toughness can become equal to the amount of effects on the stack
High Troller		A Troll in both meanings of the word, that makes spells and abilities cheaper, but random.
Impatient Iguana		A creature with Haste that is in such a hurry that, if it is on your starting hand, you may become the starting player.
Lazier Goblin		Introduces the Motivate keyword ability.
Lightning Colt		A Colt (I.E.: a young Horse) that deals Lightning Bolt damage to any target when entering the battlefield.
Mana Abundance		A version of Mana Flare that gives mana to everyone on the table whenever any player ads mana to his pool.
Planequake		An X Damage card that introduces the concept of Plot Boosters. Plot Boosters are very common with Legacy-style board games.
Problematic Volcano		Forces every player to separate their creatures in two different groups, and the creatures can only face creatures in the same group.
Queue of Beetles		These creatures invert the order of the Stack, to "first in, first out".
Red Herring		Can be cast from the hand, replacing a spell on the Stack or creature, and changing the target of any effect to itself. A Red Herring is a false lead or a distraction.
Seasoned Weaponsmith		First creature with Tasty.
Siege Elemental		Inverts what creatures can or can't block during combat.
Throat Wolf		The famous Throat Wolf finally printed, even with firstest strike.
Tibalt the Chaotic		This version of Tibalt can cast one spell at random for a list of three for each Loyalty ability.
Transcantation		Can transform any Instant or Sorcery in the stack into a Lightning Bolt. Essentially a new form of red counterspell.
Trial and Error		A Lightning bolt-like spell that, if countered or fizzled, creates a copy of itself.
Whammy Burn		First use of the Whammy Deck.
Krosan Adaptation		The first Enchantment (Aura) to feature the Storm mechanic. Flavored in line with the Scourge set.
Maro's Gone Nuts		References Mark Rosewater by name, by his illustration which is a callback to his art of Look at Me, I'm the DCI, his love for squirrels and his preference for doubling mechanics. The underlying card is Doubling Season.
Patient Turtle		Favors players who don't play first in the game.
Personal Decoy		An answer to the call for non-humanoid planeswalkers that is often heard on Blogatog. Duck throws shade on the fate of Dack in the War of the Spark.
Abian, Luvion Usurper		Abian is another non-humanoid planeswalker. Luvion is a known plane. Mechanically this card messes with life total and loyalty. In a way similar to Garruk the Slayer, Abian literally represents the player, that spends his own life total as loyalty.
Wrath of Sod		A play on Wrath of God. Introduces manabond counters, which turn any card into a land which can be tapped for mana..
Start // Fire	//	A split card that recombines Start from Start // Finish (Amonkhet) with Fire from Fire // Ice (Apocalypse).
Barry's Land		Barry's Land finally printed.
Aggressive Crag		A new dual land that taps before each combat phase, spoofing certain aggro players.
Ral's Vanguard		A new Vanguard card that requires a deck with only Instants, Sorceries and Lands.