Mindless Automaton

Artifact Creature — Construct

Mindless Automaton enters the battlefield with two +1/+1 counters on it.

{1}, Discard a card: Put a +1/+1 counter on Mindless Automaton.

Remove two +1/+1 counters from Mindless Automaton: Draw a card.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (48)

DemonDragonJ on Advice for a Green/White EDH …

3 months ago

I am planning to build a green/white EDH deck, with Sigarda, Host of Herons as the general, so I would like to ask for advice on constructing it.

Most decks that have the original Sigarda as the general tend to be either "Voltron" decks (i.e., making the general as powerful as possible) or "enchantress" decks (i.e., focusing on enchantments), so I would like to make my deck slightly different from the typical Sigarda deck; specifically, I plan for the deck to have three major themes: a focus on gaining life, but not quite to the extent of my Liesa, Shroud of Dusk deck; a focus on generating creature tokens, but not to the extent of my Ghired, Conclave Exile deck; and a focus on putting +1/+1 counters on creatures, but not to the extent of my Atraxa, Praetors' Voice deck; in other words, it shall be a "jack of all trades" deck, but with plenty of synergy and overlap between those themes. Sigarda does not directly contribute to any of those themes, but I chose her as the general, because she is very difficult to remove, once she is on the battlefield, and I feel that this type of creative and unusual deckbuilding is good and should be encouraged.

First, for gaining life, I am considering cards that make it easy to do so, such as True Conviction, Dazzling Angel, Archangel of Thune, Trostani, Selesnya's Voice, Sunscorch Regent, Oracle of Nectars, and Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn, as well as cards that offer payoffs/rewards for gaining life, such as (again) Archangel of Thune, Lathiel, Trelesarra, moon dancer, Blossoming Bogbeast or Trudge Garden.

Second, for generating creature tokens, I am considering Vernal Sovereign, Aura Mutation, Trudge Garden (again), Selesnya Guildmage (possibly), or Scepter of Celebration, and, for cards that reward me for generating tokens, I am considering Juniper Order Ranger, Cathars' Crusade, Dazzling Angel, and Trostani, Selesnya's Voice.

Third, for placing +1/+1 counters on creatures, I am considering Shalai, Voice of Plenty, Archangel of Thune, Juniper Order Ranger, Cathars' Crusade, Sunscorch Regent, Forgotten Ancient (possibly), and (possibly) Vigor, and, for cards that allow me to use those counters as payment for other effects, I am considering Fertilid, Mindless Automaton, (possibly) Ooze Flux.

Notice how many of those cards have synergy and overlap, allowing me to pursue three themes in a single deck, and I also plan to have a number of generically good cards that I use in many of my decks, such as True Conviction, Mirari's Wake, Seedborn Muse, or Sigarda, Font of Blessings, as well as several cards that I have not used in any of my previous decks, thus far, such as Hydra Broodmaster, Pledge of Loyalty, Camaraderie, Commander's Plate, Behemoth Sledge, Shield of the Oversoul, or Veteran Beastrider. I also am considering putting either Valkyrie Harbinger or Kalonian Hydra into this deck, but I do not wish for this deck to be too similar to any of my other decks, so I would prefer to avoid putting those cards into this deck, if I can avoid doing so, and I also am not yet certain about Doubling Season, staff of completion, or Selvala, Explorer Returned, since those cards would be awesome in this deck, but I do not wish to use them in every deck in which they would be a good addition.

What does everyone else say about this? Do you think that this is an interesting idea, and what suggestions can you make, for me? Thank you, very much, and I certainly am awaiting everyone’s responses!

Rhadamanthus on Shirei's Delayed Trigger and Being …

3 months ago

Yes, Mindless Automaton will return to the battlefield. When an object uses its own name in the rules text of its ability, it means "this object, right here". Turning a creature face down is just a change in status, like tapping it. It does not become a new object. In your example this means when the delayed trigger created by Shirei when the Automaton died triggers and goes onto the stack, it will see the "this object" from the ability still exists and will return the Automaton to the battlefield.

201.5. Text that refers to the object it’s on by name means just that particular object and not any other objects with that name, regardless of any name changes caused by game effects.

Kaktus021 on Shirei's Delayed Trigger and Being …

3 months ago

Set-up: It's my opponent's turn. I control a Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker and remove two counters from my Mindless Automaton to draw a card and it dies from having zero toughness, triggering Shirie's ability. Later in the turn my opponent plays Ixidron turning Shirie face down.

Question: Does the Automaton still return to play when Shirie's delayed ability triggers at the end of turn since Shirie is still in play even though it's now a face down creature with no abilities or name, or does the ability fail to see Shirei because it's now face down?

DemonDragonJ on Should I Keep Steelbane Hydra …

6 months ago

RiotRunner789, you said that you prefer Crystalline Crawler over Mindless Automaton, but, between Crystalline Crawler and Forgotten Ancient, which do you prefer?

DemonDragonJ on Should I Keep Steelbane Hydra …

6 months ago

I have a copy of Steelbane Hydra in my Marath, Will of the Wild *f-etch* EDH deck, but I am contemplating replacing it with either Crystalline Crawler or Mindless Automaton, since I feel that I already have sufficient artifact and enchantment destruction in that deck, whereas the other two creatures are far more universal in their utility.

What does everyone else say, about this subject? Should I replace Steelbane Hydra in my Marath deck, or keep it, there?

builderboy7 on Shirei Shizo's Caretaker Return creatures …

7 months ago

Player A control's Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker, Mindless Automaton, and a Supernatural Stamina in hand. Player A activates Mindless Automaton's ability to draw a card in Player B's second main phase. When Player B regains priority, they cast Murder targeting Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker and Player A responds by casting Supernatural Stamina targeting Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker. After the stack resolves with Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker getting destroyed and re-entering the battlefield from the graveyard, would Mindless Automaton still be brought back at the beginning of the end step?

DemonDragonJ on What Card Should Replace Otherworld …

9 months ago

I have a copy of Otherworld Atlas in my Atraxa, Praetors' Voice EDH deck, but I am contemplating replacing it with another card, since other users here have said that that card is not a good card, so I would like to ask for advice on what card should replace it.

My first choice was Mindless Automaton, because of how excellent that creature would be, in this deck, but that would be one less card that would synergize with Flux Channeler, so I am also considering Empowered Autogenerator, since that card obviously would be amazing in this deck, although it does enter the battlefield tapped, which I feel is competently necessary, since, even with a Doubling Season, on the battlefield, its controller cannot regain the mana that they spent on it, immediately. I also am considering Tome of Legends, which does require mana to activate, but has amazing synergy with that deck.

What does everyone else say about this? What card should I put into my Atraxa deck, in place of Otherworld Atlas?

DemonDragonJ on Should I Keep Abzan Falconer …

10 months ago

I have a copy of Abzan Falconer in my Atraxa, Praetors' Voice EDH deck, because it is quite awesome to give flying to all of my creatures that have +1/+1 counters on themselves, but since that deck also contains both Akroma's Memorial and Elspeth, Sun's Champion, both of which can also grant flying, I wonder if I should replace that creature with another creature, such as Fertilid, Shapers of Nature, Zameck Guildmage, Steelbane Hydra, or Mindless Automaton, as all of those creatures use +1/+1 counters for various purposes.

What does everyone else say about this matter? Should I keep Abzan Falconer in my Atraxa deck, or replace it, with another creature? I certainly would appreciate your feedback.