If it doesn't seem like it's even the same card anymore, that's because it isn't
The set is filled with adorable critters containing very human characteristics - facial expressions, clothing, armor, and weapons
To have a permanent connive N, the permanents controller draws N cards, discards N cards, then puts a number of +1/+1 counters on the permanent equal to the number of nonland cards discarded this way
Those who have followed me for a while know that Stubborn Denial is one of my favorite cards, so naturally I tried it when I saw that there was an aggressive Domain deck
Midrange Bloodtithe Harvester | Illustration by Lucas Graciano Creature (13) Fear of Missing Out x3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse x3 Blade of the Oni x2 Bloodtithe Harvester x4 Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger Enchantment (8) Unholy Annex x4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker x4 Instant (8) Abrade x2 Fatal Push x4 Go for the Throat x2 Sorcery (6) Duress x2 Thoughtseize x4 Land (25) Blood Crypt x4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth Swamp x3 Mutavault x4 Blackcleave Cliffs x4 Mountain Blightstep Pathway x4 Sulfurous Springs Blazemire Verge x3 Sideboard (15) Kolaghan's Command Duress Extinction Event x2 Go Blank Invoke Despair x3 Unlicensed Hearse x2 Anoint with Affliction Torch the Tower x2 Damping Sphere x2 Midrange sits in the middle of our spectrum between control and aggro, borrowing a few pieces from each
Note that both Dark Depths and Marit Lage's Slumber give you a legendary token with the Marit Lage name, so you cant have both tokens on the field without outside help
