Sword of Body and Mind (Original Sketch)

Sword of Body and Mind is a three-mana Artifact – Equipment first printed in Scars of Mirrodin (2010), that can be equipped for (2), and gives the equipped creature +2/+2 and protection from green and blue. Whenever the equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, you create a 2/2 green Wolf creature token and that player mills ten cards. In Commander / EDH, it’s a staple among swords fans, Voltron decks, and sometimes mill-themed decks. This card is played because of its token creation ability – the 2/2 Wolf helps build a board presence even if the equipped creature is removed next turn. The protection it gives is also very relevant, since it avoids green fight effects, bounce spells, green and blue blockers, and green removal spells. Milling 10 cards is massive in EDH, and often fuels graveyard strategies (your own or political targets). It fits perfectly into any “Sword tribal” package with Stoneforge Mystic, Ardenn, Akiri, Wyleth, etc. The most common EDH deck types it appears in are Voltron Commanders (e.g. Scram, Senior Edificer, Wyleth, Soul of Steel, Sigarda, Host of Herons), Equipment-focused “Sword Tribal” lists, Token decks – and in Mill or self-mill decks that benefit from large graveyards. During Scars of Mirrodin Standard (2010-2011), Sword of Body and Mind was playable, but not dominant. It saw play in Caw-Blade lists before Stoneforge Mystic locked into Sword of Feast and Famine as the main equipment. It also showed up in U/W Control and sometimes blue tempo decks. In early Modern (2011-2013), this card was played in decks like Bant midrange, Faeries (sideboard), and Stoneforge Mystic builds. In Limited (Scars of Mirrodin Draft / Sealed), it was an unbeatable bomb in most games because +2/+2 and evasive protections were enormous in artifact-heavy Limited – and making a free 2/2 Wolf every combat damage snowballed out of control fast. Today, it’s not played in Modern or Legacy competitive play. Sword of Body and Mind is not on the Reserved List.