There's a running joke I hear in the Magic community relating to how some mechanics are similar in nature. It goes something like, "Every Magic: the Gathering mechanic is Kicker." People have gone as far as to claim that even Mark Rosewater admits every mechanic is a variation of either Kicker or Flashback (if you watch the linked video, however, you may agree that Horsemanship isn't).

For newer players, the Kicker mechanic is basically a card with a base cost and base effect, with the option to pay an additional cost or costs for additional effect(s). When written generically, you can readily see how many mechanics would fit this loose definition, including Spree, Escalate, Cleave, Buyback, Overload, Exploit, Devour, etc.

This week I'm doing a deep dive into one of my favorite "Kicker spin-off" classics: Entwine.

What Is Entwine?

As tempting as it is to obtusely define Entwine as "a Kicker mechanic," I'll share a somewhat better, more robust definition of the keyword.

According to the MTG Wiki, "As you cast a spell with entwine, if you pay the additional entwine cost, instead of choosing only one of the modes of the spell, you choose all of them. In all cases but one, this is two options, and hence the reminder use of 'both.'"

You can readily see how this sounds an awful lot like Kicker. Putting that aside, Entwine is a way of selecting multiple modes on a modal spell. The ability was initially released in Mirrodin block, and has not appeared in a Standard-legal set since. The only reappearances of the Entwine mechanic has been in special sets such as Modern Horizons, Commander 2019, Modern Horizons 2, and Modern Horizons 3.

Let's take a look at an example to hammer home the rules component; take a look at the MH3 card Gravedig, an Entwine variant of Gravedigger.

When you cast Gravedig, you can pay to either have target player create a 2/2 Black Zombie creature token or return target creature from your graveyard to your hand. If you pay the Entwine cost of two mana, you get to do both! That is, you create a 2/2 Zombie creature token and you get to re-buy a creature from your graveyard to your hand. It's a way of splitting the original Gravedigger card into two effects, and giving players the flexibility to cast either or both the effects.

A few additional rules to keep in mind with Entwine:

• If the entwine cost was paid, you follow the text of each of the modes in the order written on the card as the spell resolves.
• Entwine is an additional cost, similar to how kicker and escalate work.
• The mana value of an entwined spell is the mana value shown in the top right corner of the card regardless of if you paid the entwine cost or not.

Noteworthy Entwine Cards

Despite only appearing on 32 cards across Magic's history, the Entwine mechanic has had its share of impact on the game over the years.

Let's start with the big one--from my recollection, the most impactful Entwine card in the history of the game. It's called Tooth and Nail.

This Green Entwine Sorcery fueled a Green combo deck that originated in Mirrodin block constructed. The deck then evolved into an Extended powerhouse. The deck's pilot would cast a number of land searching effects to ramp mana, generate Urzatron to generate even larger quantities of mana, and then cast an entwined Tooth and Nail for nine mana. Creatures the deck cheated into play included Darksteel Colossus, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Mephidross Vampire, Sundering Titan, and Triskelion.

Here's an example decklist, this one from Kyle Goodman's GP Charlotte 2005 list:

Tooth and Nail | Extended | Kyle Goodman, GP Charlotte 2005

• Creatures (11)
• 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 2 Eternal Witness
• 1 Darksteel Colossus
• 1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 1 Mephidross Vampire
• 1 Sundering Titan
• 1 Triskelion

• Artifacts (11)
• 4 Sensei's Divining Top
• 2 Talisman of Unity
• 3 Oblivion Stone
• 2 Mindslaver

• Spells (15)
• 3 Moment's Peace
• 4 Reap and Sow
• 4 Sylvan Scrying
• 4 Tooth and Nail

• Lands (23)
• 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
• 5 Forest
• 1 Tranquil Thicket
• 4 Urza's Tower
• 4 Urza's Power Plant
• 4 Urza's Mine
• 4 Windswept Heath

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Duplicant
• 3 Kataki, War's Wage
• 1 Leonin Abunas
• 1 Mindslaver
• 1 Moment's Peace
• 2 Naturalize
• 3 Orim's Chant
• 1 Plains
• 1 Platinum Angel
• 1 Sundering Titan

Buy This Deck Export text

Plenty of other powerful Entwine cards exist, but none defined a format like Tooth and Nail. That said, there are a handful of other Entwine cards in original Mirrodin block that deserve a shoutout.

One once-popular Commander choice is Journey of Discovery.

This ramping spell gives you flexibility to search up two basic lands and play them at the same time, if the Entwine cost is paid. It's a little costly at six mana to do this, but the ability to color fix and search up two lands for three mana gives this card some handy versatility.

Plunge Into Darkness is an interesting one.

Other than a horrifyingly brilliant piece of art, Plunge Into Darkness didn't really do anything noteworthy for years. Then in 2017, the card saw a modest spike as players scooped it up on speculation. Again, the card remained largely innocuous until 2020, when the card shot up to over $10. It has utility in Commander, but I suspect the buyout had something to do with Modern play. Whatever the catalyst, Plunge Into Darkness is now a noteworthy Entwine card with real utility.

Another cool Mirrodin Entwine card is Solar Tide. Stop me if you've seen this one before: it's a spell that gives its caster flexibility to destroy big creatures, small creatures, or both. Sound familiar?

This Entwine cost looks differently from other examples I've shown so far. Instead of having to pay additional mana, Solar Tide demands you sacrifice two lands if you wish to destroy all creatures in play. While it doesn't seem too prohibitive to sacrifice two lands if you've already got six in play to cast this, I know that control decks like hitting their land drop. This may make the Entwine cost a tough pill to swallow, especially when something like Wrath of God is cheaper and far more effective.

Another relevant Entwine shoutout is Savage Beating from Darksteel and reprinted in Commander Masters.

The reprinted version shows updated templating, making the card's effect a little easier to read. This card is a beating indeed--the option to grant all your creatures double strike, gain an additional attack phase, or both?! Yikes!

Other rare Entwine cards from Mirrodin block include Promise of Power (a powerful spell indeed!), Rude Awakening (reprinted in Modern Masters and Duel Decks: Garruk vs. Liliana), Spectral Shift, Shriveling Rot, and Temporal Cascade (a nine-mana Timetwister variant).

Modern Entwine

As mentioned earlier, Entwine has never shown up in a Standard-legal set since Mirrodin block. It did, however, make appearances in the straight-to-Modern Modern Horizons sets. Let's look at a couple examples.

Kaya's Guile, from the first Modern Horizons set, earns notoriety as a unique Entwine card for two reasons. First, it's the only multicolored Entwine card. Second, it gives you four effects instead of two.

I'm not sure how useful the spell is in tournament play, but its versatility seems useful in the right Commander deck.

Goblin War Party is a Red common, also from the first Modern Horizons, that includes the Entwine mechanic.Twisted Reflection was a Blue spell in Modern Horizons that uses Entwine. Flourishing Strike is a Green Instant from Modern Horizons 2 that leverages the Entwine mechanic as well.

Then there are the sparse appearances Entwine makes in Commander sets. The two I want to specifically call out are Mirage Mockery from Phyrexia: All Will Be One Commander and Road of Return, from Commander 2019.

These cards are both rare and make use of Entwine, using the new templating. Mirage Mockery is a copying spell that allows you to double down and copy an artifact creature and nonartifact creature if you're so inclined. Road of Return is a Regrowth effect that also allows you the option of placing your Commander into your hand from the command zone. Both of their niche applications, but I'm not sure how much play they actually see outside the decks they came in.

Wrapping It Up

You may have noticed how the power level of Entwine cards are highly variable and bias toward being underwhelming. You have a few bangers in Tooth and Nail, Savage Beating, and Plunge Into Darkness, but then you have some ho-hum effects like Road of Return. Since Mirrodin block, very few cards have utilized this mechanic.

According to the Storm Scale (a scale of how likely it is we'll see a mechanic return in a Standard-legal set), Entwine started at a four and, as of 2020, has migrated to six. At level 6, Mark Rosewater implies that Wizards of the Coast would need to find the right place to bring it back, but he's a little less optimistic.

I'm not sure why Entwine scores this way on the Storm Scale. It doesn't strike me as an overly powerful or broken mechanic. Perhaps it's merely because the card is too similar to other, more recent effects, such as Spree and Escalate (level 4 and level 5 on the scale, respectively). Whatever the reason, Entwine remains a kicker-like keyword heavily associated with Mirrodin block.

Without plans of reprinting the mechanic in a Standard set on the horizon, I suspect it will remain a sparsely used Commander or Modern Horizons card for the foreseeable future. Still, it's worth being familiar with the ability and what it does. You never know when your opponent may surprise you with a giant Tooth and Nail in your next Commander match!