Troop of PoniesHow it works & interactions with other cards

What It Does

Troop of Ponies features an activated ability that costs two generic mana, tapping the creature, and sacrificing it. In exchange, you get to search your library for up to two basic land cards. You reveal these cards, then put one onto the battlefield tapped and the other into your hand. Finally, you shuffle your library to complete the process.

How It Resolves Step by Step

First, you pay the activation cost of two mana and sacrifice Troop of Ponies; this places the ability on the stack. When the ability resolves, you search your library for basic lands. If you find two, you must choose which one enters the battlefield tapped and which one goes to your hand. If you only find one basic land, that specific card must be put onto the battlefield tapped according to official rulings.

Common Mistakes

A frequent error is forgetting that the land entering the battlefield must be tapped, regardless of whether it normally enters untapped. Additionally, remember that you can only search for 'Basic' lands (Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, Forest, or Wastes), so you cannot fetch non-basic utility lands. Lastly, since sacrificing the creature is part of the cost, your opponent cannot kill the Horse in response to stop the search once you have announced the activation.

When to Play It

This card is best used when you need to thin your deck and guarantee mana production for upcoming turns. It is particularly effective in decks that can capitalize on having artifacts or creatures in the graveyard, or in strategies that benefit from the 'Landfall' mechanic by putting a land onto the field during your opponent's turn.

Interaction examples

Accelerating the Ponies

Foundry Inspector

With Foundry Inspector on the battlefield, the cost to cast Troop of Ponies is reduced by one generic mana. This allows you to deploy your mana-fixer earlier in the game, setting up your land search for a faster transition into high-cost spells.

Mana Fixing Combo

Ornithopter of Paradise

You can tap Ornithopter of Paradise to produce one of the two mana required for the Troop of Ponies activation. By using the Thopter's mana, you can sacrifice the Ponies to find the specific basic lands you need to cast spells of other colors in your deck.