Amass Ability in Magic the Gathering

The Amass ability in Magic: The Gathering allows you to either strengthen an existing Army creature or, if you don’t have one, create a new 0/0 black Zombie Army creature token and then put a number of +1/+1 counters on it. The number of counters is specified by the Amass value (e.g., Amass 3 means put three +1/+1 counters).

Utility in Gameplay and Deck Building

1. Growing Threat: Amass enables you to steadily grow a single creature into a larger threat, useful in both offensive and defensive strategies.
2. Token Synergy: It synergizes with decks focused on token strategies and counters, providing opportunities for interaction with other cards that benefit from or enhance creature tokens.
3. Flexibility: Amass is versatile, suitable for various deck types, and can adapt to the state of the battlefield, either by bolstering an existing army or creating a new one.
4. Board Presence: Even if the original creature with Amass is removed, the Army token remains, maintaining board presence.

In deck building, Amass can be a central strategy in a token-focused deck or a complementary feature in a deck that values incremental growth and board presence.