Startling Development
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Magic: The Gathering
Mana cost
Ikoria: Lair of BehemothsIKO · #68
- Card type
- Instant
- Rarity
- Common
- Indicative price
- 0.12 € · ★ 0.13 € · 0.20 $ · ★ 0.22 $
- Mana value
- 2
- Colour
- Blue
Card text
Until end of turn, target creature becomes a blue Serpent with base power and toughness 4/4. Cycling (, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
Format legality
- BrawlLegal
- CommanderLegal
- CompetitivebrawlLegal
- DuelLegal
- GladiatorLegal
- HistoricLegal
- LegacyLegal
- ModernLegal
- OathbreakerLegal
- PauperLegal
- PaupercommanderLegal
- PioneerLegal
- TimelessLegal
- VintageLegal
Legalities follow the imported catalogue; check format rules before a tournament.
Data imported on 2026-10-06 (UTC).
Indicative Scryfall prices, updated daily. ★: foil; ★ E: etched foil. EUR and USD represent different markets.
Printing information
- Illustrator
- Simon Dominic
- Card language
- English
- Release date
- 2020-04-24
Flavour text
Remarkably, dinner continued with no further interruptions.
Rulings
Because damage remains marked on a creature until the damage is removed as the turn ends, nonlethal damage dealt to the target creature may become lethal once its base toughness becomes 4.
Effects that modify the affected creature’s power or toughness without setting it will apply no matter when they started to take effect. The same is true for counters that change the creature’s power or toughness.
Startling Development overwrites all previous effects that set the affected creatures’ color, creature types, power, and/or toughness to specific values. Other effects that set these characteristics to specific values that start to apply after Startling Development resolves will overwrite that part of the effect.
The affected creature doesn’t lose any abilities when it becomes a Serpent.
