Source

I agree with the comments on the source in that this should be of higher impact. Also, I feel that second ability is a bit complexy for a common. All in all, the card is looking like too much effort for too little gain.

Make it a big beat stick with a high upkeep cost (at uncommon+ rarity?) or something to make the whole shenanigan it's suggesting more lucrative of a choice.

Round One: Haraka Fugitive.
Round Two Upkeep: Pay .
Round Two main step: Enchant Haraka Fugitive with Unholy Strength.
Round Three Upkeep: Pay .
Skip to your opponent's Round Six: Demystify Unholy Strength.

It's now your upkeep round 7. How much do you pay for Haraka Fugitive's upkeep to keep it on the battlefield? I'm pretty sure the answer is . But I'm sure a lot of new players would say or maybe . For me, it doesn't sound like common is available for this mechanic..

This is definitely an uncommon, simply because it's an undercosted beater that you probably don't want multiples of, with a boatload of text to boot. I think the hardest part about the set will be finding non-cumulative upkeep cards for your creatures, since a "cumulative upkeep deck", almost by definition, sounds like a nightmare to play and keep track of. I feel like cumulative upkeep would be better served as role-players for certain archetypes, rather than be an archetype all by itself.

And yeah, @jmgariepy, it would be six, since you would still put the age counters on it. The wording could change to "As long as ~ is enchanted, it can't have counters placed on it.", so you'd still have to pay each turn for the Unholy Strength, but it'd always be until it's not enchanted anymore.

Oooh, fiddly. As worded, yes, it keeps accumulating then replaces that count by 0. Seems like it would be better if it reset.

Or maybe if enchanting it just erases the upkeep forever?

It also doesn't seem like an interesting enough card to use this mechanic on. But it's already flyspeck, so there really isn't room for more!

So howabout the simpler, though similar "Non culmulative upkeep is really freaking huge, or be enchanted" to make you cast then enchant something big.

was:

> Cumulative upkeep (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
As long as ~ is enchanted, you may pay mana rather than pay its cumulative upkeep cost.

I wonder whether there is a neat combo with the second ability.

Published as mtgnexus Card of the Day 2022-01-31.