Starting Column
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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.)
{T}: Add one mana of any color.
Max speed — {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw two cards, then discard a card.
What it does
Tagged as Ramp · Card draw — the jobs the deck report counts it toward.
Official rulings
- 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)
- 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)
- “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)
- 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)
- Each player tracks their speed (or lack thereof) separately. Increasing your speed has no effect on whether another player has speed. (2025-02-07)
- A player “has max speed” if their speed is 4. (2025-02-07)
Printings & prices
Every set Starting Column has been printed in, with the art, the finishes and the market price of each — the headline price above is the cheapest of these.
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