Six years ago, a lost homunculus found his way into our hearts.
We knew very little about Fblthp – he lived on Ravnica, he was totally lost, and he had always hated crowds. But a single line of flavor text was enough to endear him to Magic players the world over, and thus, the mythos of Fblthp was born.
The Magic community has speculated about Fblthp’s backstory and whereabouts for years. Observant art aficionados have even found him hiding in a handful of card images. In fact, when we returned to his home plane this past fall, Fblthp seemed to appear more often: in the flavor text for Humongulus and in the art for March of the Multitudes and Captive Audience.
It was only a matter of time before he made another appearance.
Fblthp, the Lost
When we found Fblthp, he looked just as fearful as ever. Somewhat unsurprisingly, he’s a 1/1 creature for two mana – not what you’d hope to top-deck if you were facing down a horde of zombies. His second ability is also a fun and flavorful play on the “illusion” mechanic: “When Fblthp becomes the target of a spell, shuffle Fblthp into its owner’s library.” Poor Fblthp!
But, while he may be a bystander in the War of the Spark, Fblthp may still have an important role to play. When Fblthp enters the battlefield, you draw a card, and if he entered the battlefield or was cast from your library, you’ll draw two cards instead. While isn’t the strongest creature, odds are he’ll help you find what you need.
So, how do you get Fblthp out of your library and onto the battlefield? Prime Speaker Vannifar might be able to help…
Friends for Fblthp
Fblthp costs just two mana, so Vannifar decks can find him easily. More importantly, you’ll get to draw two additional cards, and you’ll have a creature that you can sacrifice to find a useful three-drop. In Standard alone, Prime Speaker Vannifar decks can use Fblthp to tutor up three-mana creatures like Jadelight Ranger, Knight of Autumn, and Deputy of Detention.
If you’re not a Standard player, the options are seemingly endless (though Kitchen Finks and Eternal Witness are the usual suspects), and you get access to Birthing Pod, Chord of Calling, and other creature tutors. Fblthp is just the right size for a Collected Company strategy, too.
There are a handful of other spells that will allow you to cast creature cards from your library, such as Vizier of the Menagerie. However, if you Cascade into Fblthp, you’ll only draw one card when he enters the battlefield; Cascade exiles cards as part of its resolution, so spells cast with Cascade are cast from exile, not from your library.
What kind of deck are you building for Fblthp? Be sure to share it with us on Twitter at @Card_Kingdom!