New MTG Thunder Junction Equipment Showcases Surprising Versatility

As Outlaws of Thunder Junction spoilers continue to come out of the woodworks, it’s clear that this set has some really cool cards to build around. While it’s a bit of a unique approach, the inclusion of cards from The Big Score only adds to this list of intriguing designs. Cards like Lotus Ring Lotus Ring Indestructible
Equipped creature gets +3/+3 and has vigilance and "{T}, Sacrifice this creature: Add three mana of any one color."
Equip {3} offer some unique combo scenarios, especially in a Commander setting. Meanwhile, Esoteric Duplicator Esoteric Duplicator Whenever you sacrifice this artifact or another artifact, you may pay {2}. If you do, at the beginning of the next end step, create a token that's a copy of that artifact.
{2}, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card. has immense potential alongside Krark-Clan Ironworks Krark-Clan Ironworks Sacrifice an artifact: Add {C}{C}. and some Artifacts to sacrifice for value.

Well, it seems like the list of sweet Artifacts from The Big Score continues to grow each day as more cards continue to get previewed. One Artifact in particular that seems to be getting a lot of hype is Lost Jitte Lost Jitte Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage, put a charge counter on Lost Jitte.
Remove a charge counter from Lost Jitte: Choose one —
• Untap target land.
• Target creature can't block this turn.
• Put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature.
Equip {1} . Much like how Lotus Ring is referencing Black Lotus Black Lotus {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Add three mana of any one color. , Lost Jitte has a lot in common with Umezawa’s Jitte Umezawa’s Jitte Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage, put two charge counters on Umezawa's Jitte.
Remove a charge counter from Umezawa's Jitte: Choose one —
• Equipped creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
• Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
• You gain 2 life.
Equip {2} .

Both cards have the ability to accrue charge counters whenever you are able to Equip one of your Creatures and deal combat damage. From there, both cards provide three distinct options for how to maximize those charge counters. Of course, competing with Umezawa’s Jitte is not easy (it’s banned in Modern for a reason), as it can singlehandedly ruin combat for the opponent. However, Lost Jitte does have some interesting applications that don’t exactly overlap with its two-mana counterpart.

An Urza’s Saga Target

The first (and perhaps most important) thing in Lost Jitte’s favor is that it can be found off of Urza’s Saga. Urza’s Saga is an unbelievably powerful card. The fact that it can make two enormous threats AND tutor up a wide range of utility Artifacts really puts it over the top. Clearly, there will be situations where you want to tutor something else, but Lost Jitte does have some nice applications.

Unlike some other Equipment, Lost Jitte has a very small Equip cost, making it better in attrition-based matchups. Just like Umezawa’s Jitte, you don’t need to deal combat damage to the opponent for Lost Jitte to trigger, so even if your opponent blocks, you still get the bonus. From there, you can use it to help your big Constructs get through blockers. If you have additional copies of Urza’s Saga at the ready, you can use Jitte’s “untap target Land” ability to start making multiple Constructs a turn.

Unfortunately, though, the main issue with Lost Jitte is not that it doesn’t have useful scenarios. Instead, it’s that its competition is quite high. Shadowspear Shadowspear Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has trample and lifelink.
{1}: Permanents your opponents control lose hexproof and indestructible until end of turn.
Equip {2} is another strong Equipment that is frankly going to be stronger in a lot of instances. Assuming your Constructs from Urza’s Saga live, you can give your big attacker Trample and Lifelink right away, which is a huge swing in your favor. In this sense, you need a good reason to include Lost Jitte in your deck, beyond just its synergy with Urza’s Saga.

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Hardened Scales Applications

In Modern, the Urza’s Saga deck that has the highest potential to make use of Lost Jitte is likely Hardened Scales. First of all, with Hardened Scales in play, Jitte becomes a lot more threatening. You can start putting multiple +1/+1 counters on your Creatures at a time, which can make combat significantly more difficult for the opponent.

Second, many Creatures in the deck can make use of those +1/+1 counters even outside of combat. Once you’ve accumulated a couple counters on Lost Jitte, getting to Equip Walking Ballista Walking Ballista This creature enters with X +1/+1 counters on it.
{4}: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from this creature: It deals 1 damage to any target. or Hangarback Walker Hangarback Walker This creature enters with X +1/+1 counters on it.
When this creature dies, create a 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature token with flying for each +1/+1 counter on this creature.
{1}, {T}: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. and put extra counters on can be devastating. It’s still unclear if this gets Lost Jitte over the hump in Modern, but it’s at least worth consideration.

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Abusing Charge Counters

The other avenue players can go about trying to abuse Lost Jitte is to utilize ways to add charge counters to Jitte without repeatedly connecting in combat. Cards like Coretapper Coretapper {T}: Put a charge counter on target artifact.
Sacrifice this creature: Put two charge counters on target artifact. and Surge Node Surge Node This artifact enters with six charge counters on it.
{1}, {T}, Remove a charge counter from this artifact: Put a charge counter on target artifact. immediately come to mind.

There have been Tron decks in the past that have made good use of these elements in conjunction with Paradox Engine Paradox Engine Whenever you cast a spell, untap all nonland permanents you control. , Mystic Forge Mystic Forge You may look at the top card of your library any time.
You may cast artifact spells and colorless spells from the top of your library.
{T}, Pay 1 life: Exile the top card of your library. . and mana rocks like Everflowing Chalice Everflowing Chalice Multikicker {2} (You may pay an additional {2} any number of times as you cast this spell.)
This artifact enters with a charge counter on it for each time it was kicked.
{T}: Add {C} for each charge counter on this artifact. . Add in The One Ring The One Ring Indestructible
When The One Ring enters, if you cast it, you gain protection from everything until your next turn.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life for each burden counter on The One Ring.
{T}: Put a burden counter on The One Ring, then draw a card for each burden counter on The One Ring. , and you can often draw through your whole deck and win the game in one turn.

Jitte can theoretically add a new dynamic by letting you untap Urza’s Tower Urza’s Tower {T}: Add {C}. If you control an Urza's Mine and an Urza's Power-Plant, add {C}{C}{C} instead. . Each time you cast a spell with Paradox Engine, Jitte, and Coretapper in play, you can untap Coretapper, tap it again to add a charge counter to Jitte, then use Jitte to untap Tower and cast more spells. This archetype is rather unusual, and maybe Jitte can help revitalize it.

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Proliferation

Beyond using Coretapper to add charge counters to Jitte, you can also Proliferate these counters once Jitte has one counter on it. In Standard, the Toxic decks make use of Serum Snare Serum Snare Return target nonland permanent to its owner's hand. If that permanent had mana value 3 or less, proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) , Experimental Augury Experimental Augury Look at the top three cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) , and Bloated Contaminator Bloated Contaminator Trample
Toxic 1 (Players dealt combat damage by this creature also get a poison counter.)
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) as ways to Proliferate poison counters. It’s not unreasonable to consider trying out Jitte in this strategy, helping your Creatures get through blockers.

In Commander, you can really take things up a notch. Cards like Inexorable Tide make it easy to get a bunch of counters on Jitte. Throw in Lands like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx {T}: Add {C}.
{2}, {T}: Choose a color. Add an amount of mana of that color equal to your devotion to that color. (Your devotion to a color is the number of mana symbols of that color in the mana costs of permanents you control.) to untap and you’ve got a gameplan.

In fact, if you have enough Devotion and a charge counter on Jitte, you can use Jitte, Inexorable Tide, Nykthos, and Shrieking Drake Shrieking Drake Flying
When this creature enters, return a creature you control to its owner's hand. to generate infinite mana! Just follow the steps below:

• With Devotion to Blue of four (or more), use Nykthos to float four blue mana
• Cast Shrieking Drake with three mana floating, triggering Inexorable Tide to put another charge counter on Jitte
• When Shrieking Drake enters the battlefield, return it to your own
• Use Jitte to untap Nykthos, then use two of the floating mana to activate Nykthos once more. You now have extra mana to work with
• Cast Shrieking Drake again and repeat this process, netting infinite mana

All things considered, Jitte does take some effort to get going. It isn’t as easy to free roll as Umezawa’s Jitte or even Shadowspear in most Constructed decks. With the right combination of cards, though, Jitte can help you pop off. This card is receiving a lot of hype rather quickly, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled for any other neat interactions.

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