Appeal // Authority 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
Until end of turn, target creature gains trample and gets +X/+X, where X is the number of creatures you control. Aftermath (Cast this spell only from your graveyard. Then exile it.) Tap up to two target creatures your opponents control. Creatures you control gain vigilance until end of turn.
Complete guide
Appeal // Authority is a versatile split card from the Amonkhet block that rewards you for building a wide board presence. It utilizes the Aftermath mechanic, allowing you to cast one half from your hand and the other later from your graveyard to clear the path for a lethal swing.
Dual Sides of Power
This card functions as two separate spells on a single card. Appeal is a green sorcery that scales with your army, providing a massive power boost and trample. Authority is a white sorcery that can only be cast from the graveyard; it taps down blockers and gives your team vigilance, ensuring you stay protected while attacking.
Calculating the Bonus
When Appeal resolves, it checks the number of creatures you control at that exact moment. This value, X, is locked in once the spell finishes resolving. If your creatures die later in the turn, or if you create new ones, the +X/+X bonus does not change. For Authority, you can choose to target zero, one, or two creatures. However, if you do choose targets and all of them become illegal (for example, if they gain Hexproof), the entire spell will fail and your creatures won't gain vigilance.
Mastering Aftermath
Aftermath is a keyword that allows you to cast the second half of the card from your graveyard. Once you begin casting Authority, the card moves to the stack immediately, meaning opponents cannot exile it in response to the announcement. After Authority resolves, is countered, or otherwise leaves the stack, it is exiled forever. While not on the stack, the card has the combined characteristics of both halves, meaning its mana value is 3 and it is both green and white.
Strategic Timing
Since both halves are sorceries, you must cast them during your main phase when the stack is empty. A common strategy is to cast Appeal during your first main phase to maximize a creature's power, then attack. If the card is already in your graveyard from a previous turn or a discard effect, you can cast Authority to remove the two best blockers your opponent has, then swing with your entire team safely thanks to vigilance.
Interaction examples
If you control three creatures and cast Appeal targeting one of them, the spell checks your board state upon resolution. It sees three creatures, so the target gets +3/+3 and trample until end of turn. Even if one of your other creatures is destroyed during the combat phase, the target retains the full +3/+3 bonus.
CultivateEarly in the game, you use Cultivate to ensure you have the mana to cast multiple spells. Later, with a full board of creatures, you cast Appeal from your hand to buff a creature. Because you have priority after your own spell resolves, you can immediately cast Authority from your graveyard to tap your opponent's blockers before they have a chance to exile your graveyard.
FarseekYou use Farseek to find a Plains, ensuring you have the white mana required to cast the Authority half of the card. When the time comes to finish the game, you cast Authority from the graveyard. You target two of your opponent's creatures to tap them down. Even if your opponent has no creatures to target, you can still cast Authority with zero targets just to give your own team vigilance.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Appeal // Authority
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
The value of X is determined only as Appeal begins to resolve. It won’t change later in the turn if the number of creatures you control changes.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
You may cast Authority without choosing any target creatures. Creatures you control will still gain vigilance until end of turn. However, if you choose any targets and each of those targets become illegal before Authority resolves, the spell won’t resolve and your creatures won’t gain vigilance.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
Once you’ve started to cast a spell with aftermath from your graveyard, the card is immediately moved to the stack. Opponents can’t try to stop the ability by exiling the card with an effect such as that of Crook of Condemnation.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
Each split card has two names. If an effect instructs you to choose a card name, you may choose one, but not both.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
While not on the stack, the characteristics of a split card are the combination of its two halves. For example, Destined // Lead is a green and black card, it is both an instant card and a sorcery card, and its mana value is 6. This means that if an effect allows you to cast a card with mana value 2 from your hand, you can’t cast Destined. This is a change from the previous rules for split cards.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #6· Wizards of the Coast
If you cast the first half of a split card with aftermath during your turn, you’ll have priority immediately after it resolves. You can cast the half with aftermath from your graveyard before any player can take any other action if it’s legal for you to do so.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #7· Wizards of the Coast
Split cards with aftermath have a new frame treatment—the half you can cast from your hand is oriented the same as other cards you’d cast from your hand, while the half you can cast from your graveyard is a traditional split card half. This frame treatment is for your convenience and has no rules significance.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #8· Wizards of the Coast
If another effect allows you to cast a split card with aftermath from a graveyard, you may cast either half. If you cast the half that has aftermath, you’ll exile the card if it would leave the stack.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #9· Wizards of the Coast
A spell with aftermath cast from a graveyard will always be exiled afterward, whether it resolves, it’s countered, or it leaves the stack in some other way.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #10· Wizards of the Coast
If another effect allows you to cast a split card with aftermath from any zone other than a graveyard, you can’t cast the half with aftermath.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #11· Wizards of the Coast
All split cards have two card faces on a single card, and you put a split card onto the stack with only the half you’re casting. The characteristics of the half of the card you didn’t cast are ignored while the spell is on the stack. For example, if an effect prevents you from casting green spells, you can cast Destined of Destined // Lead, but not Lead.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #12· Wizards of the Coast
Each split card is a single card. For example, if you discard one, you’ve discarded one card, not two. If an effect counts the number of instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard, Destined // Lead counts once, not twice.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Appeal // Authority
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.