Have you ever played a creature and thought, "Dang, I wish this thing showed up to the gym already juiced"? Or better yet, "I wish my other creatures who woke up early for that morning pump are willing to give this latecomer that much-needed spot"? Well, I'm happy to report that at the Simic Combine gym, they're always ready to give you the support your creatures need with their Renowned bio-enhancements, questionable ethics, and their guild-specific keyword called Graft.

In today's Mechanics Overview segment, we're diving headfirst into the vat of acid that is the Simic mechanic: Graft. It's a mechanic that takes the idea of teamwork, adds a little of that classic Simic mad bioengineering, and wraps the whole thing in a vat-grown bro hug. So, what is Graft? How does it work? And why does Simic keep creating half-plant, half-lizard super soldiers and then letting them fall apart after donating their body mass? Let's get that pump.

What Is Graft?

Graft N (This creature enters the battlefield with N +1/+1 counters on it. Whenever another creature enters the battlefield, you may move a +1/+1 counter from this creature onto it.)

Let's say you've got a Cytoplast Manipulator with Graft 2. That means:

• It enters the battlefield with two +1/+1 counters on it.
• Whenever another creature enters the battlefield (yours or your opponent's!), if your Graft creature still has any counters left, you may move one of those +1/+1 counters onto the new creature.

Oh, it is important to remember that if you remove all the +1/+1 counters from your Graft creature and it happens to be a 0/0, whoops! It will die due to state-based action. But hey, getting swole is all about making sacrifices. Ain't that right, Simic?

The History of Graft

To truly understand Graft, you need to first understand Simic, and to understand Simic, you need to be okay with the idea that a jellyfish-shark-fungus hybrid is a perfectly acceptable house pet.

Graft first debuted in Dissension (2006), the final set of the original Ravnica: City of Guilds block, and it was specifically tied to the Simic Combine, a guild made up of scientists who looked at nature and thought, "Yeah, but what if we added wings, two extra arms, and a lot of chlorophyll?"

Now, what makes this mechanic really wild from a design perspective is that it combines two elements in just one keyword:

• A Static Ability: "This creature enters the battlefield with N +1/+1 counters."
• A Triggered Ability: "Whenever another creature enters, you may move a +1/+1 counter onto it."

But even with its great design in mind, let's not pretend Graft had a meteoric rise. It was cool, flavorful, and weird, but it never took off in the same way that mechanics like Scry or Prowess have. It didn't return in Return to Ravnica (2012). Or Guilds of Ravnica (2018). Or even Strixhaven (2021)'s Simic-lite Quandrix faction, which was practically built for it. Wizards of the Coast essentially took one look at the mechanic, said, "That was neat," and then locked it back in the gene vault.

As a result, there is a grand total of 13 Graft cards, consisting of:

• 12 Graft creatures
• 1 Graft land, Llanowar Reborn, from Future Sight

The Fine Print of Graft

If I may be so bold, I'd wager that nobody's brewing with Graft because it's "efficient." You're here because you once saw a snail turret offer a power-up to a Vedalken Wizard Mutant and thought, "Yeah, that's peak MTG gameplay."

And you'd be absolutely right.

So, with that said, here's everything you need to know before you start experimenting with Graft:

All Dissension Graft Creatures Are 0/0s (Handle With Care).

Every creature printed with Graft in Dissension is a 0/0. That means they rely entirely on their initial +1/+1 counters for survival.

Graft Triggers on Every Creature That Enters the Battlefield

Not just yours.

Not just other creatures.

Every. Creature. That. Enters.

Yours, your opponents', the Saproling your friend got from Tendershoot Dryad, the Goat someone made off Trading Post, you name it. If it enters the battlefield, your Graft creature will notice, and it may just want to give it a helping hand.

Every Graft Triggers Separately

Whenever a new creature enters, each one of your Graft creatures with available counters will trigger independently. These abilities go on the stack and resolve one at a time, with you choosing whether to move a counter from each.

This means you can:

• Stack multiple counters onto a single new creature
• Spread them across multiple ETB creatures (if several entered simultaneously)
• Leave some counters where they are to keep your Graft creature alive

Graft Does Not Target

Let's say an opponent has a creature with:

? Hexproof

? Shroud

? Protection

? Ward: Pay 1000 life

Guess what? Graft doesn't target, so they're getting that +1/+1 counter whether they like it or not!

Any +1/+1 Counter Can Be Moved (Not Just the "Graft Ones")

When Graft triggers and asks you to move a +1/+1 counter from the source, it's not particularly picky. Any +1/+1 counter, from any source, is acceptable in this transaction.

This means if you've happened to load up your Graft creature with extra +1/+1 counters through popular counters-matter stuff like Proliferate, Hardened Scales, The Ozolith, or even from the new Tidus, Yuna's Guardian, you can still move all those just fine.

If the Counter's Gone When the Trigger Resolves, It Does Nothing

Graft abilities trigger when a creature enters the battlefield, but like all triggered abilities, they go on the stack and resolve later. So, if, in response to the trigger, something like a Vampire Hexmage removes all the +1/+1 counters from your Graft creature before the trigger resolves?

No counters = no pump.

Counter Me Out

Graft's the embodiment of Simic ambition, science without limits, and the belief that no creature should ever enter the battlefield without immediate genetic upgrades. Whether you're using Graft to build value, manipulate table politics, or just confuse everyone at the table with deeply unintuitive +1/+1 counters movement, Graft is sure to make every game just a little weirder and, perhaps more importantly, way more fun.

And with that, I've officially finished transferring every last counter of enthusiasm onto you about Graft. As always, happy brewing, and may your creatures enter buffed, your counters move about freely, and your Simic science experiments evolve far beyond the bounds of natural law. Until next time, stay weird, stay Simic, and remember: sharing is caring.