Versions
Sting, Bilbo's Sword
AI draftAI-generated draft analysis — not yet human-reviewed. Treat with healthy skepticism.Limited summary
Two-mana flash Equipment that enters with a +1/+0 hone counter per creature the opponent controls and attaches free to a creature. Cast mid-combat it's a surprise pump that scales with THEIR board — an Equipment that's also a trick.
Roles
Archetypes
Play around this
Any colors, 2 generic mana open: a blocker (or attacker) can grow by the number of creatures YOU control, mid-combat, at instant speed.
Gameplay notes
The counters snapshot their board when it enters — cast it when they're widest. The free attach only happens on entry; re-equipping later costs 3.
Key synergies
Sting is an artifact and legendary permanent that can enter at flash speed. If you have two qualifying permanents, flashing it in after an opponent targets one of your permanents permanently activates enduring story and immediately adds Thorin's ward {1} trigger to that spell or ability.
Each time Dwalin enters or attacks, he adds another hone counter to Sting, permanently increasing its power bonus; Sting's free initial attachment also immediately gives Dwalin a well-sized first-strike weapon.
Sting enters already attached and can carry several hone counters, immediately creating an equipped attacker for Dáin. Double strike effectively applies Sting's potentially large power bonus twice.
Sting often carries several hone counters — Thorin attaching it for free turns those counters into immediate creature removal.
Sting's equip 3 drops to 1, so re-equipping it where it's needed stops being a tempo cost.
Hone counters on a double striker count twice — a Sting with three counters adds six damage to the Blacksmith's combat.
The Company's enter ability can draw Sting from the top four, and Sting provides a legendary artifact that both strengthens an attacker and contributes efficiently toward an enduring story.
Sting is a legendary artifact that advances Storied and triggers Kíli's draw ability. Because it has flash, it can enter on the opponent's turn and produce another card without competing with Kíli's once-per-turn trigger on your turn.
Sting makes The Lonely Mountain enter untapped and counts toward reducing its Dwarf-token activation cost, while also serving as useful Equipment for the Dwarf that land creates.
The Stalwart's enter ability can move Sting and all of its hone counters to the creature best positioned to attack, bypassing Sting's expensive equip cost.
Vow can move a counter-loaded Sting onto an attacking or blocking Dwarf at instant speed without paying equip {3}, while untapping and pumping that creature for a major combat swing.
Equipping Sting and Glamdring to the same creature makes Sting's hone counters increase that creature's power, which directly increases Glamdring's cost reduction for instant and sorcery spells.