Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor

Gameplan

Ertha Jo turns every targeted activated ability into a two-for-one, so you build a board of cheap creatures with tap-to-target abilities (pingers, Mercenaries, equipment-style buffs) and double their value every turn. You apply pressure incrementally, then explode when you copy a big ability twice to deal lethal or stack massive buffs. The deck plays like an aggro-combo midrange shell that out-grinds opponents through doubled effects.

Key Cards

• Goblin Sharpshooter — Untaps on every creature death and each ping is copied, letting you machine-gun the board and players.
• Reyhan, Last of the Abzan — Not in color—skip; instead pingers like Tim effects double their damage with Ertha Jo.
• Heartstone — Cheapens activated abilities so you can fire off doubled effects repeatedly each turn.
• Zealous Conscripts — Threaten-style activated steals and pings synergize, but more importantly cheap untappers extend your engine.
• Umbral Mantle — Untap effect lets a creature's tap ability fire multiple times, multiplying Ertha Jo's copies.
• Brash Taunter — Doubled damage-redirect and ping effects punish opponents while staying recursive.

Upgrade Path

Add untap enablers (Umbral Mantle, Sword of the Paruns, Magewright's Stone) and cost reducers (Heartstone, Zirda) to turn single abilities into repeatable loops. Prioritize tutors and protection for Ertha Jo—Swiftfoot Boots, Heroic Intervention, and Teferi's Protection keep the engine online. Lean into a dedicated pinger like Goblin Sharpshooter as your primary combo finish to convert the value engine into a hard win.