What is myriad?
Myriad is an EDH mechanic that lets you attack everyone at once. Normally, creatures can only attack one opponent. When you attack with a creature that has myriad, you may create 1 token for each opponent you aren’t attacking with your creature. The token is a copy of the myriad creature. Then, you put 1 token on the board tapped and attacking each of the other opponents. In other words, you get to attack everybody at the table! The tokens are exiled at the end of your combat step—they don’t sit around on the board. The official rule text of myriad reads, “Whenever this creature attacks, for each opponent other than defending player, you may create a token copy that's tapped and attacking that player or a planeswalker they control. Exile the tokens at end of combat.” Myriad is exclusive to the commander format (EDH). You could technically play most myriad cards in legacy, vintage, or pauper, but the mechanic wouldn’t do anything in these one-on-one formats.
How does myriad work?
You attack one of your opponents with your myriad creature. Say, for our example, that you’re playing a game against Mike, Amanda, and Tony. On your turn, you move to the beginning of combat and declare your attackers. You control a Banshee of the Dread Choir and decide to attack Mike. Pro tip: Unless you have a really good reason to do otherwise, always attack the player least likely to kill the original creature. It doesn’t matter if the tokens die in combat, but you want to protect the creature that matters.
The myriad trigger goes on the stack once you declare attackers. As soon as you turn your Banshee sideways to tap it as an attacker, the myriad ability is triggered and it goes on the stack. Your opponents all get an opportunity to respond to the trigger. Even if you’re going to create multiple tokens, myriad only creates one trigger. This means that a player could prevent multiple tokens from being created by countering the trigger with a card like Stifle.
Place tokens of the myriad creature on the battlefield, attacking each other opponent. Once the myriad trigger resolves, you get two fresh copies of your Banshee of the Dread Choir. They come into play as tokens, tapped and attacking. You set one Banshee token in front of Amanda and the other Banshee token in front of Tony. You cannot choose to set multiple tokens in front of one opponent. Each token must attack different opponents. If Amanda were already out of the game, you would create only one token for Tony. The Banshee tokens have all of the text and stats from the original Banshee. Since the Banshee has rules text that says, “Whenever Banshee of the Dread Choir deals combat damage to a player, that player discards a card,” the tokens will force Tony and Amanda to discard if they aren’t blocked. Myriad is technically a “may” ability, meaning that you get to choose to not make the tokens. There aren’t very many scenarios where you’d want to skip the ability, though. What if I don’t have the right token cards? Just use the back of a random Magic card! Or, you can simply not put a physical token on the field and just picture them existing. The tokens won’t stick around anyway.
Combat damage takes place. Once the tokens are in play, your opponent declares their blockers. Then, damage occurs the same way it normally would in normal combat. Place any creatures that die in their respective graveyards, complete any damage-based triggers or effects, and reduce any hit points if you get any damage through to the players. If any tokens die in combat, they are exiled. Tokens do not go to the graveyard when they die.
Any remaining myriad tokens are exiled at the end of combat. Any myriad tokens that are still alive after damage has been dealt are automatically exiled at the end of combat step. Remove the tokens from the battlefield and move on to your second main phase. This can be hard to remember because most temporary tokens in Magic are “until the end of turn” or “until the end of your next turn.” You must remember the myriad tokens do not get to see your second main phase.
Unique Rules for Myriad
If you have one opponent, myriad doesn’t do anything. Myriad only matters in multiplayer games. The ability has absolutely zero impact in one-on-one games. If you’re playing EDH and two of the other players get knocked out (so that you can only attack one opponent), myriad becomes irrelevant.
The tokens don’t trigger “declare attacker” effects. Any myriad tokens are placed on the battlefield “tapped and attacking.” Since you don’t actually declare the tokens as attackers, any effects or state-based rules that care about the declare attacker step will not apply. The tokens aren’t cast, so cast triggers won’t count, either.
The tokens trigger any ETB effects. If you have any cards that care about creatures entering the battlefield (like Ambuscade Shaman), they do apply to the tokens when they come into play.
The tokens do not get any equipment or enchantments. Let’s say you’ve got a Banshee of the Dread Choir with an Akki War Paint enchanting it and giving it +2/+1. This makes the Banshee a 6/5. However, the myriad tokens copy the Banshee itself—not any enchantments or affects changing the Banshee. As a result, the Banshee myriad tokens will remain 4/4s.
Multiple instances of myriad stack with one another. If a card has two instances of myriad on it (which is surprisingly common in Commander), each instance of myriad creates its own token. So, let’s say you put a Blade of Selves on a Banshee of the Dread Choir. Your Banshee now has two copies of myriad on it. When it attacks, each player that is not being attacked by the Banshee will face down two Banshee tokens.
Is myriad a powerful mechanic?
Yes, although the creatures with myriad aren’t all that stellar. Myriad is extremely powerful. Unfortunately, the creatures that come with myriad on it already are not especially great in a vacuum (with Battle Angels of Tyr and Auton Soldier being the two big exceptions). However, there are a few ways to put myriad on a creature. These cards see a lot of play, since stapling myriad to card like Sun Titan or Solemn Simulacrum can be game-ending. The two major cards that grant myriad are: Blade of Selves—this colorless equipment goes into literally any Commander deck, so it’s a great all-around way to boost whatever creature you’ve got on board. Legion Loyalty—this powerful card gives all of your cards myriad. If you want to end a game quickly and swiftly, this is a great way to do it.
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