There are few things more synonymous with the American Old West than people riding horses. From basic transportation to enabling train robbery to the way mail was delivered, a saddled mount was a necessity for anyone with any distance to travel.

Let's take a look at a new activated ability, Saddle, and its corresponding Creature type, Mount, from Outlaws of Thunder Junction!

What is Saddle?

Saddle is an activated ability that can only be activated as a Sorcery, meaning it can only be used during your Main Phase when the stack is empty. You may tap any number of Creatures you control, other than the Creature with Saddle you're Saddling, with power equal to or greater than the number included in the Saddle keyword.

In order to Saddle Trained Arynx, you have to tap Creatures with a total power of two or greater. Once that happens (and it resolves, because it could still be Stifled), the Creature with Saddle is Saddled until the end of the turn.

Most of the Creatures with Saddle have an extra effect when they attack. Take a look at Caustic Bronco:

Every time we attack with this interesting little fella, we get to Dark Confidant a card into our hand, losing life equal to its Mana Value. However, if we Saddle this guy, each of our opponents loses that life instead, and we still get the card.

A few of them require you to deal combat damage instead, like Archmage's Newt.

Never count out a Flashback cost of - that's a serious ability if you can get this guy through!

An important thing to remember when Saddling a Creature is you may tap Creatures which came into play this turn to Saddle, because it's the Saddle ability tapping the Creature, not the Creature itself. No Haste needed - you can put the Creature you just cast right to use!

What is Mount?

Mount is a new Creature type. That's all. There is no rules connection between "Mount" and "Saddle" other than a flavorful one - a Creature with "Mount" is the place you're most likely to see a Creature with "Saddle", though if a Creature with Saddle loses its Mount Creature type somehow, it will still have Saddle, and if a Creature can be given Saddle it doesn't have to be a Mount to gain it.

Limited Implications

One comparison made a lot is "Mount is to Saddle like Vehicle is to Crew." That's... partly true. Vehicles are Artifacts, not Creatures, and Crewing them turns them into Artifact Creatures. However, Mounts are Creatures all by themselves, capable of blocking and attacking without any support. This makes them much better in Limited because you have more options. You can run a Mount knowing it can just be a Creature in your deck. Fortune, Loyal Steed is a perfectly playable card in Limited, capable of blocking above its weight and doing damage; however, if you Saddle it with a Shepherd of the Clouds, you can start returning permanents to your battlefield from your 'yard every turn. Seraphic Steed is a fine 2-drop, but if you can Saddle it, you'll start making a bunch of 3/3 fliers, which can quickly take over a limited game.

Of course, if you open something huge like The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride, you're going to run it assuming it's on color. But it's nice that it doesn't require the build-around that Vehicles often do.

Commander Implications

The Gitrog, Miram, Herd Whisperer, and Calamity, Galloping Inferno all have the potential of being Saddle-based Commanders, though of the three, Miram is probably the most obvious. The Gitrog, to me, looks more like a Graveyard deck where you churn through lots of cards, make a ton of mana, and probably play with ETB and death triggers, using the Gitrog as a way to keep pressure on. Saddling with Chittering Dispatcher and the like seems like a decent way to spend your time.

Calamity also could be great fun. Imagine Saddling with a Bogardan Hellkite while Warstorm Surge is on the battlefield. You'd deal 20 damage just from the Enters the Battlefield effects, 10 of which can be divided however you want. Come up with a way to sacrifice the Hellkite tokens for more profit and deal even more damage. Havoc Eater can Goad a bunch of Creatures. Krenko's Buzzcrusher can take out a bunch of annoying non-basic lands. Molten Primordial could be fun, too, especially if you have that sacrifice outlet.

I already did an article on Miram, Herd Whisperer, and I have built the deck in real life and played it at Commander night. It's a hoot! The interactions are really fun, and the deck plays well, if super casually. There are plenty of ways to adjust the deck to your personal tastes and collections, and it should be a decent platform if they decide to revisit the Mount and Saddle combination.

Of course, Mounts being Creatures means you can run Mounts in Commander decks without having a formal strategy around them. I can see a deck wanting Calamity in its 99. Drover Grizzly, too, could be useful in a go-wide token deck with Green. Seraphic Steed will be a four-of in my daughter's Unicorn deck for sure, just because of the artwork.

Final Thoughts

Saddle is a useful ability and Mounts are great in lots of formats. They die more easily than Vehicles because they're Creatures all the time, but their Creature status means they can block and don't have to be Saddled to be useful. I hope this has helped you make sense of this new Activated Ability!

Thanks for reading.