The Phyrexian's return was planned back when Mirrodin was first put together. It was interwoven subtly so that hardcore Magic-story fans would get a hint that something was wrong without quite knowing what that thing was. (The mycosynth wasn't a red herring after all.)
Contested Warzone Land Whenever you are dealt combat damage by a creature, that creature's controller gains control of CARDNAME t: add 1 to your mana pool. 1, T: attacking creatures get +1/+0
EDIT: Man I wish I could read the rules text on that 2UU shapeshifter. Cryptoplasm? All I can make out for sure is that it does something at the beginning of the upkeep...
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may have CARDNAME become a copy of another target creature. If you do, CARDNAME gains this ability."
Then tell me, what does poison mechanically do differently than life 2.0? Don't say "can't undo poison"- that something it doesn't do, which is lack of a design space being tapped, not a new one. What does it actually do that is mechanically different?
Then tell me, what do artifacts mechanically do differently than enchantments 2.0? Don't say "doesn't have color" - that something it doesn't do, which is a lack of a design space being tapped, not a new one. What does it actually do that is mechanically different?
Hey now, amoebas aren't germs... well I think there may be some species that can cause disease, but generally speaking I don't think they could be called "germs." That's generally reserved for bacteria, viruses, or possibly other disease-causing microscopic stuff I guess. Pretty much means "tiny stuff that makes you sick."
Then again, Zodiac Monkey is an Ape, so maybe it's close enough.
The original meaning of germ was a small thing from which something larger develops, especially a bit of living tissue that grows into a larger organism. We talk about "the germ of an idea", "germ line cells", etc. So the 0/0 Germ token makes perfect sense as the core from which the living weapon develops. The fact that germ is also associated with disease just makes it fit even better.
Hmmm...
It's confirmed as "or".
Creature it is.
Cardname
3
Artifact - Equipment
+3/+1
Enters the battlefield equipped
Equip - Sacrifice a creature
New info: this costs 3 and enters the battlefield equipped.
common, too.
Land
Whenever you are dealt combat damage by a creature, that creature's controller gains control of CARDNAME
t: add 1 to your mana pool.
1, T: attacking creatures get +1/+0
Dimir Doppelganger, etc. It's a standard clause on shapeshifters.
Living Weapon
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has "Sacrifice this creature: This creature deals 1 damage to target creature or player."
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may have CARDNAME become a copy of another target creature. If you do, CARDNAME gains this ability."
EDIT: Name looks like Cryptoplasm.
Then tell me, what do artifacts mechanically do differently than enchantments 2.0? Don't say "doesn't have color" - that something it doesn't do, which is a lack of a design space being tapped, not a new one. What does it actually do that is mechanically different?
The original meaning of germ was a small thing from which something larger develops, especially a bit of living tissue that grows into a larger organism. We talk about "the germ of an idea", "germ line cells", etc. So the 0/0 Germ token makes perfect sense as the core from which the living weapon develops. The fact that germ is also associated with disease just makes it fit even better.