Ancestral Anger is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
Target creature gains trample and gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is 1 plus the number of cards named Ancestral Anger in your graveyard. Draw a card.
Complete guide
Ancestral Anger is a powerful common from Innistrad: Crimson Vow that rewards players for playing multiple copies. This red sorcery provides both aggressive combat stats and card selection, making it a staple in spellslinger and aggressive strategies. By fueling its own power through your graveyard, it turns even the smallest creature into a lethal threat.
What It Does
Ancestral Anger targets a single creature to give it two distinct benefits: the trample keyword and a power boost. The power increase, denoted as +X/+0, scales based on how many copies of Ancestral Anger are already sitting in your graveyard when the spell resolves. Additionally, it allows you to draw a card, ensuring you don't lose card advantage while pressuring your opponent.
How It Resolves Step by Step
First, you choose a legal target creature and pay the mana cost. Upon resolution, the game checks your graveyard for any cards named Ancestral Anger. The target creature gains trample and the calculated power bonus immediately. Finally, you draw a card. Crucially, the copy of Ancestral Anger currently resolving is still on the stack during these checks; it only enters the graveyard after the spell has finished all its instructions.
Common Mistakes
A frequent error is counting the current Ancestral Anger toward the value of X. Since the spell is on the stack during resolution, the first copy you cast will always provide +1/+0 (1 plus 0 copies in the graveyard). Another mistake is targeting a creature that gets removed in response. If the target becomes illegal before the spell resolves, the entire spell is 'fizzled'—you will not get the trample, the power boost, or the card draw.
When to Play It
Because it is a sorcery, you must cast it during your main phase. It is best used right before combat to maximize the trample damage. It also serves as an excellent 'cantrip' (a spell that replaces itself) to dig through your library for specific answers while maintaining board pressure.
Interaction examples
Faithless LootingIf you use Faithless Looting to discard a copy of Ancestral Anger early in the game, the next Ancestral Anger you cast will resolve with X=2 (+2/+0), because one copy is already in the graveyard before the second one starts resolving.
When you cast your first Ancestral Anger, it gives +1/+0 because your graveyard is empty. After it resolves, it moves to the graveyard. When you cast a second Ancestral Anger later that turn, it sees the first copy in the graveyard and gives the target creature +2/+0.
VandalblastIf you need to clear an opponent's blocking artifact creature first, you can cast Vandalblast to destroy it. Once the blocker is gone, you can cast Ancestral Anger on your own creature to ensure the trample damage goes directly to the opponent's life total while replacing the card in your hand.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Ancestral Anger
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
Ancestral Anger isn't put into your graveyard until after it finishes resolving, so it doesn't count itself for its own effect.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
Ancestral Anger isn't put into your graveyard until after it finishes resolving, so it doesn't count itself for its own effect.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Ancestral Anger
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.