Two of the scariest things in Magic: The Gathering are powerful enter the battlefield triggers, and an overwhelming swarm of tokens. Many decks rely on both of these to win, and, thanks to the offspring mechanic introduced in Bloomburrow, you’re able to do both at the same time.
Offspring is similar to lots of other mechanics in Magic, but the way it could be used could make it an all-timer for the game. Breed like Rabbits, swarm the board, and drown your opponent in value with offspring.
What Is Offspring?
Introduced in 2024’s Bloomburrow, offspring is an additional cost found on creature spells. Much like kicker, and the many mechanics that are just kicker with a different name, you can pay the offspring on top of what you paid to cast it.
If you do, when the creature spell resolves and the creature enters the battlefield, it then makes a 1/1 token copy of itself. This token copies everything its ‘parent’ has inherent to it, with the only difference being the power and toughness.
The offspring token only copies the inherent copyable values of the parent. This means what is printed on the card is copied, but effects, buffs, and additional types given to the parent between it entering and it making the token won’t.
Paying the offspring cost happens at the same time as casting the spell: as it’s being put on the stack, before it resolves. You can only pay offspring once, unlike the similar squad mechanic that lets you pay multiple times. If the spell is countered, you won’t make a token.
How To Use Offspring
A 1/1 token copy of a creature doesn’t sound like it’d have a big impact, but offspring can be a terrifying mechanic if used the right way.
For starters, any go-wide decks love offspring, as the low cost for a small creature fits perfectly in their strategies. Mono-red aggro and white weenie decks in particular like lots of small creatures, but the offspring costs are often low enough for them to fit into just about any deck.
But, more importantly, offspring is a great way to double up on enter triggers. If a creature has both offspring and a triggered ability that goes off when it enters the battlefield, the token copy will have the same ability when it enters. For instance, if you give a Sun Titan offspring, you could return two permanents from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Making the 1/1 token copy is a triggered ability that happens when the parent creature enters the battlefield. This means it can be copied by effects like Roaming Throne and Panharmonicon , netting you two copies for the price of one.
It’s important to remember that offspring is paid when the creature is cast, not when it enters the battlefield. Blinking or otherwise cheating a creature with offspring into play will completely skip the time you can pay for the token copy.
Finally, populate is your best friend. Populate makes a copy of an existing token, letting you take that 1/1 copy and turning it into three, four, or even more of them with minimal work. Considering both offspring and populate are most commonly found in green and white, putting them together could be powerful.
The Best Cards With Offspring
Though they themselves don’t have offspring, Zinnia, Valley’s Voice from the Bloomburrow Family Matters Commander deck is perhaps the best card for the mechanic, as it gives every creature you cast an offspring cost of two generic mana. Creatures with offspring are balanced with it in mind, but the same can't be said for creatures that normally lack offspring.
Being able to make copies of any creature you play could set you up for some really powerful board states and tons of value from enter triggers.
As for creatures with offspring, three worth looking at are Warren Warleader, Tender Wildguide, and Thundertrap Trainer:
- Warren Warleader fits nicely into the white weenie aggro archetype, giving you two lots of attack triggers and a constant churn of Rabbit tokens or stat buffs.
- Tender Wildguide might cost four mana when you pay its offspring cost, but in exchange you’re getting a two mana dorks who can get progressively bigger just by tapping.
- Thundertrap Trainer is a fantastic way of filtering the top cards of your deck for the cards you need. By making a copy, you’re looking through the top eight cards and putting the two best into your hand, all but guaranteeing you’re set up for your next turn.
