MTG Salvation

Moppe, Enthusiastic Custodian 1RW
Legendary Artifact Creature - Gnome
Protection from rats, spiders, and insects
"You forget to close one little teleportal and off it goes, sweeping right into the painforges of the archzebrademons. I wonder how far it got?"
--Luka Pnyx, Laboratory Assistant
0/1

My initial idea was to create a card that met the bare minimum of the requirements at each stage in the cheekiest way possible, and see where that led me. A 0/1 with what amounts to trinket text seemed like a good place to start, and the first concept that came to mind to fit these stats was a tiny creature with a push-broom, keeping the vermin at bay. I chose gnome because we've never had a legendary example, and I liked the humble and affable vibe they give off. There's exactly one mono-red gnome and the rest are artifacts, but neither identity seemed exciting. I decided to go RW to lean into potential artifact equipment synergies, and because Moppe's cheerfully industrious character touched on both those colors. I landed on 1RW as it had both colors, the one generic visually hinted at the artifact nature of the card, and it left a bit of ceiling for the card to power up.

I chose the name Moppe (which, in my mind, sounds like the word moppet without the t) to reflect its designated purpose and because I thought it sounded kinda cute. I added the flavor text to steal some of that Fblthp tiny-creature-in-a-world-full-of-dangers magic (and yeah, I chose archzebrademons as the villains specifically because the word is a hot mess to scan,) but with the second prompt I've decided to lean into it.

Moppe doesn't know how long it's been active, but every day it cleans the magical research laboratory at the academy, and every night it dreams of dusting and decluttering more important, more heroic, halls. Tidiness is next to justice, after all. It has been a good life, full of purpose. One day, lost in a fantasy of clearing the floor of litter in some valorous general's command tent, or polishing the marble of an august senate gallery, Moppe blithely strides through a floor-level portal that has been left open accidentally. What awaits on the other side is a cacophony of screams and clanks, and underneath that hammering din: soot. Cake. Strips of leather, charred and discarded. It's a mess!

Moppe instantly gets to work tidying, but gradually begins to notice that the figures towering above it aren't the familiar robed magicians... these striped and braying forgemasters are looking at it quizzically, whinnying and snorting some apparently hilarious joke between them. At first they torment poor Moppe, kicking it over, throwing tongs and ingots and coal at its head, but soon they grow bored of their game and let the little gnome sort out the messes they've made around the workshop. Not knowing what to do, Moppe continues its tasks, but as the days go by it starts to notice troubling signs. The mages treated it with indifference, but their experiments seldom resulted in anything other than a gentle glow, a soft buzz, or some combination of smells following a bang. These smiths, however... their tools look wicked, their materials oddly organic and familiar. When Moppe sees the first captive brought in for harvesting, its recent uneasiness is suddenly confirmed. It knows it has to do something. It knows that the zebra demons must be stopped. But how?

It maintains the appearance of mindlessly cleaning the space around it, but its mind is whirring with possibilities. It stashes every bit and morsel of usable material, every pin, length of wood, and stray demon-hair. It doesn't know what these will become, but some day or night when the archzebrademons leave to rest, or raid, or satisfy whatever twisted desires they may have, Moppe will have the forges to itself. Yes. And it will get to work...

First, I decided to keep Moppe's PT at 0/1. That seems kinda central to the design at this point, but I wanted it to feel more naturally RW. I added First Strike and Haste, which in a vacuum do nothing to increase its power, but make it a more tempting equip target. I also cleaned up the text itself a bit.

Making a relic-level broom out of zebrademon manes seemed too fun to pass up. There aren't a lot of colored equipment cards yet, but WotC seems to be moving in that direction. It's a little more aggressively costed than equivalent uncommons, but it's not nearly a world-beater outside of the meld ability.

Lastly, It That Pans the Dust. I didn't want the melded form to simply portray Moppe wielding the broom (which is a prerequisite to using the meld ability) but to represent the plucky little gnome stepping into its destiny. The stats are a combination of Moppe's base form and the equipment abilities, only the first strike has been layered over the regular attack to yield double strike, and the firebreathing ability has been shifted into hybrid R/W. I don't think the one-sided boardwipe is too much, given that you've invested nine mana to get it, and all the pieces are fragile (two artifacts, one of which is also a 0/1 creature.) I do like how it's tempting to wait on melding until you have the free mana to pump It That Pans the Dust in response to the ETB, but I'm worried that the card is getting a little busy. I may have to cut things drastically in later phases.