Archfiend of IfnirHow it works & interactions with other cards

What It Does

Archfiend of Ifnir costs {3}{B}{B}, has flying, and triggers whenever you cycle or discard another card while it is on the battlefield. Each time that ability resolves, you put one -1/-1 counter on each creature your opponents control. The ability does not target, and it affects the opposing creatures present when it resolves—not just those that were present when you discarded. Your own creatures are unaffected, and the counters do not disappear at the end of the turn. Cycling {2} is a separate activated ability you use from your hand: pay {2} and discard Archfiend of Ifnir to draw a card. Cycling it does not trigger its own battlefield ability.

How It Resolves, Step by Step

Discarding is part of cycling’s activation cost. If that discard triggers a battlefield Archfiend of Ifnir, its trigger goes onto the stack above the cycling ability. Players can respond; absent further interaction, the counter ability resolves before the cycling ability draws a card. Cycling produces only one trigger per Archfiend, not separate triggers for cycling and discarding. Example 1 — Cycling a second copy: You control Archfiend of Ifnir and have another Archfiend of Ifnir in hand. First, pay {2} and discard the copy in hand to activate cycling. The battlefield copy triggers because you discarded another card. Its trigger resolves, putting a -1/-1 counter on each opposing creature. Then cycling resolves and you draw a card. Example 2 — Solemn Simulacrum: Suppose an opponent controls Solemn Simulacrum with current toughness 1. You discard another card through an effect or cost, triggering your Archfiend. When that trigger resolves, Solemn Simulacrum receives a -1/-1 counter. With toughness now 0, it is put into its owner’s graveyard as a state-based action. Its dies ability then goes onto the stack, and its controller may draw a card when that ability resolves.

Common Mistakes and Roaming Throne

Archfiend’s triggered ability does not itself let you discard. You need a cost, an effect, or a rule that allows or instructs you to do so. If you discard multiple cards, it triggers separately for each qualifying card. Example 3 — Roaming Throne: You control Archfiend of Ifnir, then play Roaming Throne and choose Demon as it enters. Later, you discard another card. Archfiend’s ability triggers, and Roaming Throne makes it trigger an additional time because Archfiend is another creature you control of the chosen type. The two triggers resolve separately, each putting one -1/-1 counter on every creature your opponents control at that time. State-based actions are checked between resolutions, so creatures reduced to 0 toughness by the first trigger die before the second resolves. Roaming Throne does not double the cycling activation or the card drawn from it: cycling is an activated ability, not a triggered ability.

When to Play It

Cast Archfiend before using your available discard or cycling opportunities if you want those actions to generate counters. Discarding first and casting Archfiend afterward will not make it trigger retroactively. If you need a replacement card instead, cycling offers that option for {2}, but the discarded Archfiend will not provide its own counter trigger. Remember cleanup-step discards, too. If you discard to your maximum hand size while controlling Archfiend, its ability triggers normally. Those triggers go onto the stack and players receive priority during that cleanup step. Afterward, another cleanup step occurs.

Interaction examples