A Champion wins competitions. A Champion stands up for a cause. A Champion jousts in shining armor to defend their lord's honor. But in Magic: the Gathering? The Champion mechanic means something a little more peculiar: it's when one creature politely steps aside so another can jump in, swinging weapons and throwing fireballs in its stead.

Sounds heroic, right? Or maybe it's cowardly? Who can really say these days? But, either way, all that and more is what we're going to unpack in today's Mechanics Overview Segment on Champion.

What Is Champion?

Champion an [object] (When this enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless you exile another creature you control. When this leaves the battlefield, that card returns to the battlefield.)

Champion is like a game of tag.

When a creature with Champion enters the battlefield, you've got two choices:

1. Exile another creature you control (of the specified creature type), or

2. Say "nah, I can't" and immediately sacrifice your shiny new creature.

That's it. Champion essentially forces you to temporarily bench one of your creatures so the new hotshot can take the spotlight. Then, when that Champion creature eventually leaves the battlefield, the exiled card comes back, dusts itself off, and re-enters the fray.

Breaking it down further:

• Step 1: A creature with Champion successfully enters the battlefield.
• Step 2: Its trigger goes on the stack: so either exile another creature (of a specific type, unless it states to "Champion a creature" broadly), or sacrifice the Champion creature itself.
• Step 3: Then, at some later point, if the Champion leaves, the exiled creature returns.

As you can see, Champion's essentially the same as telling your friend, "Tag out, I got this one. But don't go nowhere, I need you to come back and spot me if I bit off more than I can chew."

The History of Champion

Champion debuted in Lorwyn (2007), a set famous for its fairy-tale whimsy, typal (tribal) mechanics, and the introduction of Planeswalkers.

A rare cycle of Champion creatures represented the big, flashy tribal leaders of Lorwyn:

• Wren's Run Packmaster (Elves)
• Mistbind Clique (Faeries)
• Wanderwine Prophets (Merfolk)
• Nova Chaser (Elemental)
• Thoughtweft Trio (Kithkin)
• Boggart Mob (Goblin)

It is worth noting that three uncommon Changelings also had Champion, but instead of caring about a specific type, they just said "Champion a creature." Because, of course, Changelings can be anything anytime.

Morningtide (2008), the second set of the block, also went on to revisit the mechanic a bit with its own little tweak:

Unstoppable Ash and Lightning Crafter could Champion not just their primary creature types (Treefolk and Goblin, respectively) but also their creature subtypes (Warrior and Shaman, respectively). This opened up a bit more flexibility in deckbuilding, since you could now slot Champions into even more typal strategies.

But aside from these two sets, Champion has never really appeared again except for the occasional reprint like Wren's Run Packmaster popping up on sets like The List.

Champion Rulings

Like most of the MTG mechanics I talk about, Champion has its own set of rulings that can, more often than not, make or break how it actually plays at the table:

1. You Can't Champion Yourself

This one sounds obvious, but it's worth keeping in mind: a creature with Champion can't exile itself to satisfy its own ability. For example, if you cast Changeling Titan, you can't say, "Well, I'll just Champion the Titan itself and have infinite ETBs (enter the battlefield triggers) and LTBs (leave the battlefield triggers)." If you don't have another creature, you'll have to sacrifice the Changeling Titan immediately.

2. What Happens If The Champion Creature Dies On ETB?

Champion fundamentally involves two triggered abilities: one when it enters, and one when it leaves. And because these are separate triggers, sometimes you can get into weird timing situations.

Say you go to cast a Mistbind Clique and before its Champion ETB trigger resolves, your opponent opts to kill it with a Doom Blade.

• The Clique's LTB trigger happens, but at this point, nothing has been exiled underneath it yet, so there's nothing to return.
• Then the ETB trigger resolves, and you may still exile another Faerie you control, but since Mistbind Clique is already gone, that exiled creature will never come back.

3. What If the Champion Ability Disappears?

If a creature loses its Champion ability while on the battlefield (i.e., Humble or Sudden Spoiling, Dress Down, etc.) and then proceeds to leave the battlefield, the LTB trigger won't exist anymore, and the creature you exiled via Champion is stuck in exile forever.

4. Champion and Tokens

Champion works just fine with tokens. However, if you do decide to exile a token via Champion, it won't come back because tokens cease to exist in exile.

5. Multiple Champion Triggers

What happens if two Champion creatures leave the battlefield at the same time? Their linked LTB triggers all go on the stack, and the exiled cards return one by one as the triggers resolve.

Passing the Torch With Champion

For those of you who have just recently joined us in MTG, Champion is definitely one of those mechanics that makes you stop and say, "Wait, why haven't I seen this mechanic before?" And then, after playing with it for just a little bit, you realize, "Oh...right."

Undoubtedly, Champion is dripping with flavor, but mechanically, it often feels like a tax. Sacrifice the creature you just played or exile something potentially important? For many players, this can just look and feel like a bad mechanic. The payoff has to be massive for it to feel worth the risk. Admittedly, cards like Mistbind Clique and Wren's Run Packmaster nailed that balance, but the other ones? Not so much. Nobody is exactly jumping out of their seat to exile their Risen Reef just to play a 4-mana 10/2 Nova Chaser with Trample.

Now, should Champion ever come back? Honestly, probably not in its original form. It's flavorful but punishing, cool but fiddly. That said, when WoTC revisits Lorwyn, I wouldn't be shocked to see an updated version. Something cleaner, something that leans harder into the flavor of "Championing" while cutting out all the clunkiness and, practically, irrelevant payoffs.

With all that said, I think now's a good time for you to take up the mantle and find your own worthy Champion creatures to let them fight in your stead. As always, happy brewing, and may your Champions always find the perfect creature to tag in, your exiled tokens never be missed, and your Wanderwine Prophets grant you more turns than your playgroup thinks is reasonable.

Until next time!