It all started with a tragedy. The Eldrazi invaded Innistrad, infecting the people there... and the Angels. Avacyn, the leader, remained safe, but two of her sisters, Gisela and Bruna, fell to the Lovecraftian creatures, becoming something... different.

That flavor text on Brisela, though...

The year was 2016, and the set was Eldritch Moon, the second set in Shadows over Innistrad. Three pairs of cards were introduced which Meld. Before we look at those, let's go through the rule.

"Meld is a keyword action that appears in an ability on one card in a meld pair. To meld the two cards in a meld pair, put them onto the battlefield with their back faces-up and combined. The resulting permanent is a single object represented by two cards." (Comp. Rules 701.37a).

So in order to Meld, you have to have the "Meld Pair". Each card with Meld pairs with a specific other card - Gisela and Bruna, for example, from just up there. Then, there is always some other condition which must be met; in this case, the beginning of your End Step. In order to Meld them, you have to have both Angels on the 'field face up and get to your End Step. Then you turn them over and make Brisela and your opponents sad.

So, if we have both Hanweir Battlements and Hanweir Garrison on the Battlefield, we can pay five and tap the Land to Meld them. We do that, flip them both over, and get...

Yeah, they thought they were ready for anything.

The final pair from Eldrich Moon are Graf Rats and Midnight Scavengers, both at common so you could actually Meld during a draft.

I love how they're all in the same Graveyard, then the final Melded Creature is standing in the same place. Same with the Hanweir Battlements - they're all in the same place until they Meld and the city is on the move. The artwork in these cards is really very cool.

Additionally, notice how one card in the pair is typically easier to manage than the other. Hanweir Battlements is a Land, making it less likely to be destroyed. Midnight Scavengers and Bruna both get back their Meld pair from the 'yard.

Then we got three more pairs in The Brothers' War.

These two combine into a really big Planeswalker with five abilities. It does cost {7} to Meld, though.

Titania got a new card that melds with a land: Titania, Voice of Gaea and Argoth, Sanctum of Nature

This pair adds another requirement (both time and the need to have at least 4 Land cards in your Graveyard. They Meld into a Creature which probably also makes your opponents sad.

And then poor Mishra, who ends up getting infected by Phyrexian oil, apparently.

This is a cool use of the Unearth mechanic, and the Engine can be gotten back if needed. Anyway, they Meld into this guy, who's pretty nasty.

There is one more Meld pair, then we're going to go through the rulings. This one comes from Final Fantasy.

Not quite as powerful as some of the others, but great artwork again, and certainly flavorful. I especially like how Vanille's Meld cost is Green and Black so she can function as your Commander in the two necessary colors.

Considering Meld is a Storm Scale of 5, it seems likely, given the right set of parameters, we'll see it again.

Okay, final stuff:

• These guys look like double-sided cards, but they're not. They don't transform like double-sided cards do. Their back faces combine to make one single larger card.
• If for some reason you control more than one of half of the pair, you can choose which one to Meld with.
• When cards Meld, they Exile, then come back Melded. They come back as a new card and the two original cards both no longer exist from the game's perspective.

  • This means if something had Counters or Equipment or something, they go away. Auras will be binned. That sort of thing.

• You have to have the actual cards; tokens don't count. This matters if you wind up with a Token copy of say, Graf Rats - you can't combine the Token with Midnight Scavengers to make Chittering Host.

  • However, this is a bummer, because sometimes the Melded pairs trigger their Melding with a particular time. So if you have a Token copy of Graf Rats and Midnight Scavengers and you attack, it'll trigger and you'll Exile both. But because they can't Meld, the Token will disappear because it changed zones, and the other one will simply stay in Exile.

• A Meld card face up on the 'field or literally anywhere else has only the characteristics of the front face.
• The mana value of a Melded card is the combined mana value of the two front faces.
• A Token copy of a Melded card (yes, you can do that - it's just big, but it's still a card) will have only the characteristics of the Melded card (it doesn't get anything from the front faces) and has a mana value of zero.
• If you have to choose a card you control, you may name a Melded card (assuming you control it).
• If something moves the Melded card (to the Graveyard or Exile or whatever), it moves both physical cards.
• Additionally, you may Flicker a Melded card! It'll disappear, then return... as the two front-facing cards. Because a Flickered card becomes an entirely new card, the Melding trigger has to retrigger to re-Meld the card.

It's very likely Meld came from the Un-card BFM.

I always thought that card was super fun.

If we're honest, these seem mostly made for Commander. That said, when you pull them off in Commander, it's pretty spectacular.

Thanks for reading.