Trystan, Callous Cultivator

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Trystan is a 3/4 deathtouch legendary Elf that transforms each turn cycle between a green face (mill 3, gain 2 life if an Elf is in the graveyard) and a black face (mill 3, then optionally exile an Elf from the graveyard to drain each opponent 2 life). The back face drain is a real multiplayer payoff — up to 6 damage across 3 opponents per flip — making this a signature piece in Golgari self-mill/elf-graveyard engines. It requires a {B} pip to flip from front, so it needs both colors reliably, and the drain/lifegain both require Elf density in the yard.

• The front-to-back transform costs {B} but the reverse costs {G}, meaning both color pips must be available every turn cycle to freely oscillate — in a deck light on black mana sources this card may be stuck on its green face.

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• The back face drain exiles an Elf from the graveyard as a cost, so repeated flipping depletes the graveyard fuel; in long games you need steady mill or recursion to keep the engine running.

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• In a 4-player pod the back face drains each opponent 2 life, for a total of 6 life loss per activation — this scales much better in Commander than in Brawl where the single-opponent drain is only 2 life.

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• EDHREC rank: #14,112