Embalmed Ascendant

one generic mana one white mana one black mana Creature — ZombiePower and toughness1/2

Start your engines! (If you have no speed, it starts at 1. It increases once on each of your turns when an opponent loses life. Max speed is 4.)

When this creature enters, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.

Max speed — Whenever a creature you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.

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6 printings

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Embalmed Ascendant rulings

2025-02-07
Start your engines! isn’t a triggered ability. Increasing your speed to 1 is something that happens as a state-based action as soon as you control a permanent with the ability. Notably, this includes gaining control of a permanent with the ability that another player controls.
2025-02-07
Your speed doesn’t change until a spell or ability says so, such as the inherent triggered ability that cares about opponents losing life during your turn. Notably, losing control of permanents with start your engines! doesn’t affect your speed.
2025-02-07
Each player tracks their speed (or lack thereof) separately. Increasing your speed has no effect on whether another player has speed.
2025-02-07
If an effect needs to know what a player’s speed is and that player doesn’t have a speed, their speed is considered 0.
2025-02-07
A player “has max speed” if their speed is 4.
2025-02-07
“Max speed — [ability]” means “As long as you have max speed, this object has [ability].” If the granted ability functions in a zone other than the battlefield, the max speed ability does too.

Embalmed Ascendant keyword rules

Max speed Rule 702.178

A max speed ability is a special kind of static ability. “Max speed — [Ability]” means “As long as your speed is 4, this object has ‘[Ability].’” See rule , “Start Your Engines!”

Start your engines! Rule 702.179

Start your engines! is a static ability. If a player controls a permanent with start your engines! and that player has no speed, their speed becomes 1. This is a state-based action. See rule 704.

Players do not have speed until a rule or effect sets their speed to a specific value.

If a player has no speed and they are instructed to increase their speed by a certain value, their speed becomes that value.

There is an inherent triggered ability associated with a player having 1 or more speed. This ability has no source and is controlled by that player. That ability is “Whenever one or more opponents lose life during your turn, if your speed is less than 4, your speed increases by 1. This ability triggers only once each turn.”

Rules and effects may refer to whether a player has “max speed.” A player has max speed if their speed is 4.

Some effects refer to a player’s speed. If that player has no speed, their speed is 0 for the purpose of an effect that refers to speed.