ARTIFACT CREATURE — SCARECROW
Painter's Servant
As this creature enters, choose a color.
All cards that aren't on the battlefield, spells, and permanents are the chosen color in addition to their other colors.
FORMATS
CommanderLEGAL
Brawl (Historic)LEGAL
DraftNOT LEGAL
StandardNOT LEGAL
ModernLEGAL
PioneerNOT LEGAL
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- WWizards of the Coast2008-05-01Official RulingIf something affected by Painter's Servant is normally colorless, it will simply be the new color. It won't be both the new color and colorless.
- WWizards of the Coast2008-05-01Official RulingEach card becomes a new object as it changes zones, so this effect will apply to it from scratch in the new zone. Zone-change replacement abilities that care about the new color (like "[color] permanents enter tapped") won't work because those effects are applied as the card is entering its new zone. Zone-change triggered abilities that care about the new color (like "when a [color] permanent enters" or "when you cast a [color] spell") will work because those effects apply after the card is already in its new zone.
- WWizards of the Coast2008-05-01Official RulingThe effects of multiple Painter's Servants are cumulative.
- WWizards of the Coast2008-05-01Official RulingThis ability affects every card in every game zone, all tokens on the battlefield, and all spell copies on the stack, regardless of who controls or owns them.
- WWizards of the Coast2008-05-01Official RulingWhile Painter's Servant is on the battlefield, an effect that changes an object's colors will overwrite Painter's Servant's effect. For example, casting Cerulean Wisps on a creature will turn it blue, regardless of the color chosen for Painter's Servant.
- WWizards of the Coast2008-05-01Official RulingThis ability doesn't overwrite any previous colors. Rather, it adds another color.
Rulings via Scryfall
COMMENTS · 1
- Wizards of the Coast2026-01-12Painter's Servant was banned in historic on January 12, 2026. Painter's Servant is a card with mostly non-interactive applications, notably forming a cheap, easy-to-assemble instant-win combo with Grindstone. Since the pieces are both artifacts, the strategy gains great consistency in the form of tutors and recursion. In the interest of moderating the strength of non-interactive combos in Historic, Painter's Servant is pre-banned. Source: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/mtg-arena/announcements-january-12-2026