Can the amass mechanic be used on non-Army creatures whose creature type has been changed to "army" using Conspiracy or Arcane Adaptation? I'd like to use this strategy in a Marchesa, the Black Rose deck, but I'm wondering if there's a nuanced rule preventing this, as army creatures are also typically zombies and tokens.
In general, at the time you would "amass Zombies N":
If you control one or more Army creatures (token or not, Zombie or not, and whether or not they're normally Army creatures), you choose one of them to put N +1/+1 counters on and, if it isn't already a Zombie, it becomes a Zombie in addition to its other types (C.R. 701.44a).
If you control no Army creatures, you create a 0/0 black Zombie Army creature token and put N +1/+1 counters on that token (C.R. 701.44a, 111.2).
EDIT (Jun. 26, 2023): Edited to conform to rule update for The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth.
So there's no problem with giving non-army, non-token creatures the creature type "ARMY" and then using amass N to give those creatures +1/+1 counters? I just want to make sure that doing so (using Conspiracy or Arcane Adaptation) is legal.
In other words, "amass" is just another creature type like "dragon" or "human"???
So there's no problem with giving non-army, non-token creatures the creature type "ARMY" and then using amass N to give those creatures +1/+1 counters? I just want to make sure that doing so (using Conspiracy or Arcane Adaptation) is legal.
In other words, "amass" is just another creature type like "dragon" or "human"???
Army is a creature type just like Zombie, Dragon, or Human (C.R. 205.3m), so Army can be chosen as the creature type for Conspiracy or Arcane Adaptation. And creatures that are Armies due to Conspiracy or Arcane Adaptation count as "Army creature[s]" for the purposes of "amass [subtype] N". (Note that amass is a keyword action, not a creature type [review C.R. 205.3m and 701].)
To be clear, creature spells and creature cards not on the battlefield are not "Army creature[s]", even if they have the Army creature type (whether normally, because of Conspiracy or Arcane Adaptation, or otherwise); in general, a "creature" means a creature permanent on the battlefield (C.R. 109.2).
EDIT (Jan. 26): Small edit.
EDIT (Jun. 26, 2023): Edited to conform to rule update for The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth.
EDIT (Jun. 26, 2023): Edited to conform to rule update for The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth.
EDIT (Jul. 27, 2023): Correctness edit.
In other words, "amass" is just another creature type like "dragon" or "human"???
To be clear, creature spells and creature cards not on the battlefield are not "Army creature[s]", even if they have the Army creature type (whether normally, because of Conspiracy or Arcane Adaptation, or otherwise); in general, a "creature" means a creature permanent on the battlefield (C.R. 109.2).
EDIT (Jan. 26): Small edit.
EDIT (Jun. 26, 2023): Edited to conform to rule update for The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth.