Motivated Pony
Creature — Horse
Trample, haste
Whenever this creature attacks, attacking creatures get +1/+1 until end of turn. If a Food entered under your control this turn, untap those creatures and they get an additional +2/+2 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Tales of Middle-earth Commander
- Price
- $0.50
- EDHREC rank
- #7753
Motivated Pony gives your whole team haste and a power boost the turn it enters — the effect is immediate and board-wide. The cost is reasonable enough that Merry, Warden of Isengard // Pippin, Warden of Isengard decks treat it as a near-staple, showing up in over 40% of builds.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Merry, Warden of Isengard // Pippin, Warden of Isengard
Merry, Warden of Isengard // Pippin, Warden of Isengard cares about attacking with multiple creatures each turn, and Motivated Pony's haste grant means your board can swing the same turn it assembles — no waiting, no telegraphing.
Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit // Sam, Loyal Attendant
Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit // Sam, Loyal Attendant runs a wide Hobbit and Food engine where attacking early and often is the whole game plan, and Motivated Pony delivers the speed needed to threaten damage before opponents stabilize.
Samwise Gamgee
Samwise Gamgee generates value off Food tokens and creature recursion, and Motivated Pony lets that value translate into immediate attacks rather than sitting a turn and giving opponents time to answer.
The Cabbage Merchant
The Cabbage Merchant floods the board with tokens, and Motivated Pony turns that token flood into a same-turn alpha strike, converting quantity into immediate pressure.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Motivated Pony is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but Commander is the only format where it sees real play. In Legacy and Vintage, a haste-granting creature at this cost doesn't compete with the raw power of those formats' threat density and interaction. Commander is where the card earns its slot — wide creature strategies need haste enablers, and Motivated Pony's on-board buff affects the entire team rather than just a single threat, which scales well at a table of four.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.50 bulk tier
At $0.50, Motivated Pony sits firmly in bulk territory — easy to acquire and easy to justify. Bulk rares with narrow tribal homes tend to stay cheap, so don't expect the price to move unless Hobbit-themed support gets a significant reprint push.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Merry, Warden of Isengard // Pippin, Warden of Isengard
- Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit // Sam, Loyal Attendant
- Samwise Gamgee
- The Cabbage Merchant
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.