Circle of Elders 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
Vigilance Formidable —: Add
. Activate only if creatures you control have total power 8 or greater.
Complete guide
Circle of Elders is a versatile Human Shaman that combines defensive utility with massive mana production. Thanks to the Formidable keyword, this creature can accelerate your game plan significantly once your battlefield reaches a critical threshold of strength.
Harnessing the Formidable Keyword
Circle of Elders possesses Vigilance, allowing it to attack and remain untapped to block or use its mana ability. Its Formidable ability is an activated mana ability that requires the total power of all creatures you control to be 8 or greater. This calculation includes Circle of Elders itself, meaning its own 2 power contributes toward the necessary total of 8.
Activating the Mana Ability
To activate the ability, you must first verify that your creatures' combined power is 8 or more. If you control creatures with negative power, those values are subtracted from the total. Once the ability is legally activated and on the stack, it no longer matters if your total power falls below 8; the ability will still resolve and add three colorless mana to your mana pool.
Strategic Timing and Constraints
Because the Formidable ability requires tapping the creature, you cannot use it the turn Circle of Elders enters the battlefield unless it gains Haste. However, because it has Vigilance, you can attack during your combat phase and then tap it for mana during your second main phase or even on an opponent's turn to cast spells.
Interaction examples
Solemn SimulacrumYou control Circle of Elders (2 power) and Solemn Simulacrum (2 power). Your total power is 4. Since 4 is less than 8, you cannot activate the Formidable ability. You will need to play more creatures or use power-buffing effects to reach the 8-power requirement.
Eternal WitnessSuppose you control other creatures such that your total power is exactly 8. You tap Circle of Elders to add three colorless mana. If an opponent responds by destroying your Eternal Witness, reducing your total power to 6, the ability of Circle of Elders is already activated and you will still receive the three colorless mana.
During your turn, you declare Circle of Elders as an attacker. Because it has Vigilance, it does not tap to attack. After combat, if your total power is 8 or greater, you can still tap Circle of Elders to add three colorless mana to cast a high-cost spell during your second main phase.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Circle of Elders
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
If you control a creature with power less than 0, use its actual power when calculating the total power of creatures you control. For example, if you control three creatures with powers 4, 5, and -2, the total power of creatures you control is 7.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
Some formidable abilities are activated abilities that require creatures you control to have total power 8 or greater. Once you activate these abilities, it doesn’t matter what happens to the total power of creatures you control.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
Other formidable abilities are triggered abilities with an “intervening ‘if’” clause. Such abilities check the total power of creatures you control twice: once at the appropriate time to see if the ability will trigger, and again as the ability tries to resolve. If, at that time, the total power of creatures you control is no longer 8 or greater, the ability will have no effect.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Circle of Elders
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