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Hello, Nation! Today, I have a real treat for you. I decided to go back and convert old auras and artifacts to modern-day equipment—just for fun!
I sometimes come up with a crazy idea for a cool and completely outside-the-lines Magic article. I was writing my article about the best equipment of all time, and while doing so, I mentioned that it would have been cool to have seen these older cards as equipment. That resonated with me, and after a while, I decided to go ahead and set about doing it. Today, you are going to see the fruition of that project.
There are a few things here. First, you have the project itself, broken down into three stages. Each stage builds on the former to take these cards and make them equipment. The project is fun! You can read it and enjoy it on its own.
Then there is another level for those who are interested. I have also created a new casual format that uses these in the game. There are several issues involved that I had to deal with in order to make the conversion. Let's take a look!
The Conversion
The obvious place to start is by converting artifacts such as Tawnos's Weaponry to equipment. It's clearly proto-equipment. It gives its bonus for longer than one turn, and can keep it up for a while. There is no question that it and Ashnod's Battle Gear from Antiquities represent the first attempt to make equipment. The modern cards resemble them a lot.
The first stage was easy enough. However, some cards proved more difficult. Take Celestial Sword as a great example. Its ability to kill the creature that wields it makes sense, but how do you translate that to a modern-day piece of equipment? Cards like it and Dragon Mask were moved to Stage 2.
One thing that was not modern were the small changes in power and toughness. Zelyon Sword compares very unfavorably to Bonesplitter, especially after being made into equipment as well.
How do I determine which items get "equipmentified"? Well, there are a lot of cards that would make sense as equipment but were never made that way. A great example is Staff of Zegon. Could it be wielded by one of my henchmen? Of course, but it is me using it in the card, so we won't make it equipment. There are lots of other examples of cards that could be equipment but that represent me using it, not my minions.
Flashgird
One of the issues in converting old-school cards to equipment is that in real Magic, you can use these as instants. In equipment world, they are slowed significantly. Since most are already quite bad, this conversion to slower-than-before makes them even worse, and that's not the goal of today's article.
Therefore, most of them have been given a new keyword—Flashgird. Here is how this ability reads:
You may equip [cardname] at any time you could cast an instant.
The only artifact equipment that does not have Flashgird is Power Matrix. It's too powerful already, and gets mega-powerful with it.
For the most part, these will be more powerful since they can be hopped several times. A creature can equip a Fyndhorn Bow and attack with First Strike. Then you can hop it to another creature when you are attacked for another 3 mana to give another creature First Strike. This can allow you to use it several times, whereas you would only be able to use it once in the old style. This is intentionally left in, rather than cleaning it up with a phrase that says it can only be used once per turn, or something similar.
Because all artifacts save Power Matrix have this ability, it is not listed in their descriptions.
Anyway, ready to see the handful of Stage 1 cards?
Stage 1
Stage 1 equipment represents those cards that are clearly concepted as equipment from the pre-Mirrodin years of Magic, but without the appropriate template. These require less change to make them equipment.
Equip: 
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a non-Wall creature, destroy that creature. When the equipped creature leaves the battlefield, sacrifice Acidic Dagger.
Equip: 
Equipped creature gets +2/-2.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +0/+3.
Equip: 
Equipped creature gets +2/+0. When that creature leaves the battlefield, sacrifice Runesword. If the creature deals damage to a creature this turn, the creature dealt damage can't be regenerated this turn. If a creature dealt damage by the equipped creature would be put into a graveyard this turn, exile that creature instead.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +0/+2.
Legendary
Equip: 
Equipped creature gets +2/+2.
Sword of the Chosen can only equip a Legendary creature
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +1/+1.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +2/+0.
Stage 2
Stage 2 equipment are those artifacts that would likely be equipment today, but they weren't then. In some cases, they need more help to become equipment, and in other cases, they are just underpowered already and thus continue as equipment. There are also obvious equipment that needed some serious templating clean-ups.
Equip: 
May only equip a 1/1 creature.
Equipped creature gets +1/+2.
Equip:
Equipped creature gains vigilance if defending player controls a snow land.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +3/+3.
At the beginning of the each end step, if Celestial Sword is attached to a creature, sacrifice that creature.
Equip:
Equipped creature gains flying and its toughness becomes 1.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +2/+2.
At the beginning of each end step, if Dragon Mask is attached to a creature, return that creature to its owner's hand.
Equip:
Equipped creature gains flying.
Equip:
Equipped creature gains first strike.
Equip:
Equipped creature gains first strike.
Equip:
Equipped creature gains flanking.
Equip:
Equipped creature cannot be blocked except by walls.
Equip:
Prevent all damage that would be dealt by equipped creature. It gets +0/+X, where X is its converted mana cost.
Equip:
Domain — Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each basic land type among lands you control.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and gains flying, first strike, and trample.
Equip: 
Equipped creature gets +X/+X. At the beginning of each end step, if Puffer Extract is attached to a creature, destroy that creature.
Equip:
Equipped creature gains islandwalk. When that creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, destroy Sandals of Abdallah.
Equip:
Tawnos's Wand can only equip a creature with power 2 or less. Equipped creature is unblockable.
Equip:
Equipped creature gains "
: Deal damage equal to equipped creature's power to target attacking or blocking creature with flying."
Equip:
Equipped creature gains trample.
Equip:
Whalebone Glider can only equip a creature with power 3 or less.
Equipped creature gains flying.
Power Armor basically becomes Manaforce Mace but with Flashgird. Unerring Sling moves the damage source from it to the creature.
I chose not to do Belbe's Armor (it can be used on opposing creatures to prevent damage to you, keep them from killing your creatures, etc.) or Flowstone Armor (which can be used on opposing creatures to kill them, among other things), or cards that can be used on multiple creatures like War Barge, Coral Helm, or Baton of Morale. Some cards look like equipment, but don't have anything that resembles an equipment ability—like Bullwhip or Crown of the Ages.
Living Armor can't be changed easily because it sacrifices to be used. Thus, it's sort of a Stage 2.5 on its own. By adding an equip cost of 4, similar to what I do later in Stage 3, I make it much different.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +0/+X, where X is equipped creature's converted mana cost.
Stage 3
This stage represents those auras printed in pre-Mirrodin times that represent equipment as well. One of the reasons stated behind making equipment was to remove the blurred line between a regular sword and an aura Flaming Sword.
The decision was made to make their equip cost equal to their casting cost. Sometimes, this makes the old aura a powerful piece of equipment. Since they did not have the ability to be played as instants, they lack Flashgird (mostly).
I also decided to keep them in their original color and give them an equip cost. This is done to make them more like the original. If all of the equipment did was change just power and toughness, it was moved to colorless.
I could have built these with changing all of their costs to colorless. For most of them, it would have been fine. Equipment already represents color bleed, and it is okay. You can play Lightning Greaves in a mono-White deck to give you haste and shroud, even though they are not in-color. Similarly, you could have First Strike in a Blue deck or trample in a Red/Black aggro deck. You get the idea. It's a judgment call, I admit. I just feel like these are more interesting with their original color, but you can play them as colorless if your group decides to do so—I admit that it makes sense. It also makes sense for a Flaming Sword to require Red mana to play it, or a Fire Whip, so I think you can argue either side.
It does make sense from a mechanical standpoint. Why does Shield of Duty and Reason cost so little to play and use? Because it requires White mana, and thus cannot be abused in non-White decks. The same is true of why Air Bladder is cheap over other non-Blue ways to make something fly.
Auras were only converted to equipment if they represented an actual thing, rather than an idea or a state (such as Gaseous Form or Ferocity). Things that were not "equipmentified" include:
- Things that were grown, not made. Examples include Dragon Wings, Extra Arms, Frog Tongue, Venomous Fangs, and Tiger Claws.
- Things that are not physical. Examples include Awesome Presence, Ghostly Wings, and Anti-Magic Aura.
- Things that may be physical, but can affect opposing creatures—Flowstone Blade, Muzzle, and Shackles are good examples.
- Things that are glyphs, runes, marks, halos, wards, and such. Artifact Ward is a good example.
- Things that don't work as artifacts. Ancestral Mask would technically work, but since it clearly goes into a deck of enchantments, it doesn't make sense here. Chime of Night could work, technically, but makes no sense.
- Things that represent a clearly conjured version of equipment. Armor of Faith is a great example, as are some of the many cloaks. Similarly, cards like Spectral Shield, Floating Shield, and Mistform Mask don't show a physical item and are likely using terms like "shield" or "mask" in a different way.
- Things that are too clunky as equipment—the Crown cycle from Onslaught is just too clunky.
- Things that become too powerful as an artifact—Sun Clasp is the only example I can think of; it meets all of the other requirements, but allows you to self-bounce all of your creatures.
- It's all a judgment call. Why do Empyrial Armor if Empyrial Plate is better? I felt Exoskeletal Armor was different enough from the one from Mirrodin Besieged to convert it. Is Fire Whip an actual item, or just a cute term for an enchanted spell? Is Entangler the name of that item in the art work, or just a skill the character has? Is Farrel's Mantle an item or just a cute name for a spell? What about Keldon Mantle? What about Dream Coat?
If an aura had an ability that would work on equipment, even if it's not an equip ability, then it got moved. Scavenged Weaponry's enter-the-battlefield trigger works, for example. Therefore, it is in.
If it only gives bonuses to power and toughness, then it is changed from colored to colorless like other equipments (example: Improvised Armor).
If it had the ability to be played at instant speed, then it gets Flashgird. The only example of this on a card that makes sense as an artifact is Flaming Sword.
Here are auras that make sense being converted to equipment. They will keep their color, and they do not automatically have Flashgird (although some do). Some are obvious, like Flaming Sword. Others are more subjective. Basically, if it did something besides a quick equip, I left it as an enchantment (examples include Sun Clasp and Armor of Thorns). Exceptions were made for Crackling Club and Briar Shield, and others that simply had another effect.
Equip: 
Equipped creature gains flying.
Equip: 
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each forest you control.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +1/+1.
Sacrifice Briar Shield: Equipped creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn.
Equip: 
Equipped creature gets +1/+1.
, Sacrifice Capashen Standard: Draw a card.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +0/+2.
Sacrifice Carapace: Regenerate equipped creature.
Equip:
As Chromatic Armor enters the battlefield, choose a color.
Chromatic Armor enters the battlefield with a sleight counter on it.
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to equipped creature by a source of the last chosen color.
: Put a sleight counter on Chromatic Armor and choose a color. X is the number of sleight counters on Chromatic Armor.
Equip:
Equipped creature gains phasing and can only be blocked by walls.
Equip:
Equipped creature's type is Flagbearer in addition to its other creature types. If an opponent plays a spell or ability that could target a Flagbearer in play, that player must choose at least one Flagbearer as a target.
Equip: 
Equipped creature gets +1/+0.
Sacrifice Crackling Club: Crackling Club deals 1 damage to target creature.
Equip:
Equipped creature may block any number of creatures.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +X/+X, where X is the number of creature cards in all graveyards.
Equip:
Whenever equipped creature attacks and isn't blocked, its controller may have it deal damage equal to its power plus 2 to target creature. If that player does, the attacking creature assigns no combat damage this turn.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +1/+0 and first strike.
Flashgird (You may equip Flaming Sword at any time you could cast an instant.)
Equip:
Equipped creature gains ": Deal 1 damage to target creature or player."
Sacrifice Fire Whip: Deal 1 damage to target creature or player.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +0/+2
: Equipped creature gains +0/+1 until end of turn.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +2/+5.
Cycling: .
Equip:
Equipped creature can't be blocked by creatures with power 3 or greater.
Sacrifice Kithkin Armor: The next time a source of your choice would deal damage to equipped creature this turn, prevent that damage.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +1/+1.
When Krovikan Fetish enters the battlefield, draw a card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep.
Equip:
Whenever equipped creature becomes blocked, you may have it deal damage equal to its power to target creature. If you do, equipped creature assigns no combat damage this turn.
Equip:
Equipped creature gains first strike.
Equip:
Equipped creature gains first strike.
If you control a Plains, you may tap an untapped creature you control rather than pay Lashknife's mana cost.
Equip:
Equipped creature gains protection from black and red.
Equip:
Equipped creature gains ": Deal 1 damage to target player. Draw a card."
Equip:
Equipped creature gains shroud.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +1/+1.
When Scavenged Weaponry enters the battlefield, draw a card.
Equip:
Equipped creature gains protection from green and white.
Equip: 
Equipped creature has fear. Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to an opponent, you may draw a card.
Equip:
Equipped creature has shroud as long as it's untapped.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and can't be blocked except by creatures with flying.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +1/+1.
: Return Viscerid Armor to its owner's hand.
Equip:
Equipped creature has reach.
: Return Whip Silk to its owner's hand.
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +1/+3 and gains flying.
Wings of Hope may sound like a magic spell, but the picture shows it's the name for a glider. I chose those cloaks that resembled an actual item, and not a cool name for a magical aura. I thought Farrel's Mantle looked like the actual mantle, but Keldon Mantle looked like an aura. Post-Mirrodin, we've seen mantles as both artifacts (Paradise Mantle, Umbral Mantle) and enchantments (Celestial Mantle, Mantle of Leadership). There was no clear guidance I could find. Post-Mirrodin, we've also seen cloaks that are both (Whispersilk Cloak versus Moldervine Cloak).
All of these get much better as equipment. I especially like the ability of Coalition Flag when it's not card disadvantage.
I have a super-secret hidden Stage 4!
Stage 4
Green Dragon
Legendary
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +4/+4.
Red Hare
Legendary
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +3/+3 and gains horsemanship.
Dilu Horse
Legendary
Equip:
Equipped creature gets +2/+2 and gains horsemanship.
I thought it would be fun to mock up the cards behind the Portal Three Kingdoms cards.
Anyway, so that completes the conversion section of today's article. But what about that casual format I promised you? Let's take a look!
Equip the Saints
This is a casual format that should be played with all Magic sets, from all time. Magic is played normally, except for the following changes:
- Each creature gets +1/+1 for each equipment attached to it.
- All auras are banned. This is not Enchant Planet, it's Equipment World!
- Any card that refers to an aura now refers to equipment. Any card that refers to enchantments now refers to artifacts. (As an example, you'll draw a card off Verduran Enchantress for playing an artifact, you can use Auramancer to return an artifact, and Demystify destroys an artifact).
And that's it! Just those three rules should help to encourage the use of equipment from all eras, including the new stuff here.
Well, I hope you enjoyed today's article. It was a bit out of left field, I admit. Hopefully you thought it was a great read! Maybe you'll even try out the Equip the Saints format!
See you next week!
Abe Sargent
