Dark Confidant 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
At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal the top card of your library and put that card into your hand. You lose life equal to its mana value.
Complete guide
Dark Confidant is an iconic creature that offers an incredible trade: your life for knowledge. Known for the philosophy of winning at any cost, this Human Wizard ensures your hand is always full as long as you can manage your life total.
Unpacking the Upkeep Trigger
The ability triggers specifically at the beginning of your upkeep, before you draw for the turn. You must reveal the top card of your library so all players can see its mana value. Then, that card moves directly into your hand, and you lose life equal to its mana value. This is not damage, so it cannot be prevented by effects that stop damage.
Understanding Mana Value and X
When Dark Confidant reveals a card, it checks the mana value (formerly converted mana cost) printed on that card. For most cards, this is a simple sum of the mana symbols. However, if you reveal a card with {X} in its cost, X is always treated as 0 while the card is in your library. For example, a card costing {X}{B} would result in 1 life lost.
Strategic Considerations
The key to using Dark Confidant effectively is deck building. Since the life loss is mandatory, you generally want to keep the average mana value of your deck low. If your library is empty when the trigger resolves, the ability simply does nothing, as there is no card to reveal or put into your hand.
Interaction examples
Blood ArtistAt the start of your upkeep, Dark Confidant triggers. You reveal Blood Artist from the top of your library. Since Blood Artist has a mana value of 2, you put it into your hand and lose exactly 2 life. This happens before you perform your normal draw for the turn.
Ornithopter of ParadiseDuring your upkeep, you reveal Ornithopter of Paradise. Because its mana cost is {2}, its mana value is 2. You move the Thopter to your hand and lose 2 life. If you had revealed a Land card, which has a mana value of 0, you would put the land into your hand and lose 0 life.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Dark Confidant
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
If a card in a player's library has
in its mana cost, X is 0 for the purpose of determining its mana value.No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
If a card in a player's library has
in its mana cost, X is considered to be 0.No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Dark Confidant
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.