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Commander Nexus
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  3. The Jolly Balloon Man

Command zone

The Jolly Balloon Man

The Jolly Balloon Man

Legendary Creature — Human Clown

The Jolly Balloon Man wants a deck that copies the best creature on the table. It also suits a deck that makes an army of small creatures and attacks with all of them.

  • Mana cost1 genericredwhite
  • White, Red ()
  • Power / toughness1 / 4
  • RarityRare

Haste

1 generic, tap: Create a token that's a copy of another target creature you control, except it's a 1/1 red Balloon creature in addition to its other colors and types and it has flying and haste. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step. Activate only as a sorcery.

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Archetypes
Themes
  • Clowns
  • Humans

Cards That Fit The Jolly Balloon Man

Picked for what they do in The Jolly Balloon Man's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit The Jolly Balloon Man's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for The Jolly Balloon Man

explain how The Jolly Balloon Man works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 20 Sep 2024

Any enters abilities of the copied creature will trigger when the token enters. Any "as [this creature] enters" or "[this creature] enters with" abilities of the copied creature will also work.

Wizards of the Coast 20 Sep 2024

Except for the listed exceptions, the token created by The Jolly Balloon Man's ability copies exactly what was printed on the original creature and nothing else (unless that creature is copying something else or is a token; see below). It doesn't copy whether that creature is tapped or untapped, whether it has any counters on it or Auras and Equipment attached to it, or any non-copy effects that have changed its power, toughness, types, color, and so on.

Wizards of the Coast 20 Sep 2024

If the copied creature has {X} in its mana cost, X is 0.

Wizards of the Coast 20 Sep 2024

If the copied creature is a token, the token that's created copies the original characteristics of that token as stated by the effect that created that token, with the stated exceptions.

Wizards of the Coast 20 Sep 2024

If the copied creature is copying something else, then the token enters as whatever that creature copied, with the stated exception.

5 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with The Jolly Balloon Man, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryWRPlayers write colors as letters: W for white, R for red.ClonesClone decks copy the best creature on the battlefield, whoever owns it, so they always have one of the strongest things on the table. A copy also gets the original's 'when this enters' ability, so each clone can bring a fresh effect too.Open the Clones pageCloneCopies a creature or another permanent already on the battlefield. Copying the best thing on the table is often cheaper than casting something equally strong. Phyrexian Metamorph, Helm of the HostOpen the Clone pageSelf-SacrificeSacrifices itself as part of its own ability, trading the permanent away for what it does. Evolving Wilds, Mind StoneOpen the Self-Sacrifice pageToken EngineMakes tokens again and again rather than once. A token is a creature or other permanent created by a card, with no card of its own. Something that makes one token gives you a body; something that makes them every turn gives you a board you can keep rebuilding after it is cleared. Grave Titan, Bitterblossom, OphiomancerOpen the Token Engine pageTokensToken decks fill the battlefield with small creatures made by their cards, then attack with all of them or make them all bigger at once. A token is a creature (or other object) that a card creates, not a card from your deck.Open the Tokens pageToken MakerCreates one or more tokens. Different cards make very different ones: creatures Grave Titan, Treasures Smothering Tithe, Clues Tireless Tracker or Food Gilded Goose. This is one of our largest tags, so pair it with an archetype or theme when you are hunting a specific kind.Open the Token Maker page