Derelict Attic // Widow's Walk 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
When you unlock this door, you draw two cards and you lose 2 life. (You may cast either half. That door unlocks on the battlefield. As a sorcery, you may pay the mana cost of a locked door to unlock it.) Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, it gets +1/+0 and gains deathtouch until end of turn. (You may cast either half. That door unlocks on the battlefield. As a sorcery, you may pay the mana cost of a locked door to unlock it.)
Complete guide
Derelict Attic // Widow's Walk is a versatile Room enchantment that offers both immediate card advantage and long-term combat utility. Whether you are scavenging for resources in the attic or stalking your prey through the walk, this card provides essential tools for black-aligned decks. By utilizing the new Room mechanics, you can adapt your strategy mid-game to pressure your opponents effectively.
What it Does
This card consists of two halves, known as doors. Derelict Attic costs {2}{B} and provides a one-time burst of two cards at the cost of 2 life when unlocked. Widow's Walk costs {3}{B} and provides a continuous static ability that buffs a lone attacker with +1/+0 and deathtouch. You can cast either side to enter the battlefield with that door unlocked, or pay the other door's cost later as a sorcery to gain both benefits.
How it Resolves Step by Step
First, you choose which door to cast. If you cast Derelict Attic, it enters the battlefield and its 'when you unlock this door' ability triggers immediately, allowing you to draw two cards and lose 2 life. If you later wish to unlock Widow's Walk, you must do so during your main phase when the stack is empty. Paying the unlock cost is a special action that does not use the stack, meaning opponents cannot respond to the unlocking itself, though they can respond to the triggered ability of Derelict Attic if that was the door being opened.
Common Mistakes
A frequent error is miscalculating the mana value while the card is in your hand or library; in these zones, the mana value is the sum of both sides (7). Additionally, remember that Widow's Walk only triggers if exactly one creature is declared as an attacker. If you attack with multiple creatures and some are removed before the 'declare attackers' step ends, the ability still won't trigger. Lastly, if a Room enters the battlefield without being cast (such as through a blink effect), both doors start locked and provide no benefits until you pay to unlock them.
When to Play it
Cast Derelict Attic early when you need to dig for land drops or answers, especially if you have a high life total to spare. Widow's Walk is best utilized in 'Voltron' style strategies or decks with evasive threats, where a single powerful creature can benefit from the deathtouch to become nearly unblockable or trade up against much larger defenders.
Interaction examples
Echoes of EternityIf you control a colorless creature and attack with it alone while Widow's Walk is unlocked, it will receive the +1/+0 and deathtouch. Note that because Derelict Attic // Widow's Walk is a black permanent, Echoes of Eternity will not double its triggered abilities unless the Room itself were somehow made colorless.
Eldrazi ConscriptionIf you have a creature enchanted with Eldrazi Conscription and attack with it alone, Widow's Walk triggers. The creature, already a massive threat, gains deathtouch. This makes it even more lethal, as the trample from the Aura only requires assigning 1 damage (lethal for deathtouch) to each blocker before the remaining massive damage carries over to the defending player.
You cast Derelict Attic for {2}{B}. As it enters, the Attic door unlocks, triggering its ability. You draw two cards and lose 2 life. On a later turn, during your main phase, you pay {3}{B} to unlock Widow's Walk. Now, the permanent has both names and both sets of abilities simultaneously.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Derelict Attic // Widow's Walk
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
To cast a Room spell, choose a half (or "door") to cast. There's no way to cast both halves of a Room card. When the Room spell resolves, the corresponding door becomes unlocked as the Room enters.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
Room cards have two card faces with a shared type line on a single card. The characteristics of the door you didn't cast are ignored while the spell is on the stack.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
Each Room card is a single card. For example, if you discard a Room card, you've discarded one card, not two. If an effect counts the number of enchantment cards in your graveyard, Bottomless Pool // Locker Room counts once, not twice.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
Each Room card has two names. If an effect instructs you to choose a card name, you may choose one of those names, but not both.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
If an effect allows you to cast a spell with certain characteristics, consider only the characteristics of the door you're casting. For example, if an effect allows you to cast a permanent spell with mana value 3 or less from among cards in your graveyard, you could cast Bottomless Pool this way, but not Locker Room.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #6· Wizards of the Coast
While in any zone other than the stack or the battlefield, a Room card's characteristics are a combination of its two doors. For example, Bottomless Pool // Locker Room has a mana value of 6 while it's in your library. If an effect allows you to search your library for a card with mana value 4 or less, you can't find Bottomless Pool // Locker Room.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #7· Wizards of the Coast
While on the battlefield, a Room's characteristics are a combination of the characteristics of its unlocked doors. For example, if Bottomless Pool // Locker Room is on the battlefield with both doors unlocked, its names are Bottomless Pool and Locker Room, its mana value is 6, it's a Room Enchantment, and it has the abilities in each door's text box.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #8· Wizards of the Coast
If a spell or ability would create a copy of a Room spell on the stack, the copy retains the choice of which door was cast but also retains the full characteristics of the spell. The characteristics of the door that wasn't cast are still ignored while the copy is on the stack, and when the copy resolves, the token it becomes will enter with the appropriate door unlocked.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #9· Wizards of the Coast
If a Room enters from any zone other than the stack, it will enter with both halves locked.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #10· Wizards of the Coast
If neither door of a Room is unlocked, it's a Room enchantment with no name and no abilities.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #11· Wizards of the Coast
Any time you have priority during a main phase of your turn and the stack is empty, you may pay the mana cost of a locked door (also called its "unlock cost"). That door becomes unlocked. This is a special action. It doesn't use the stack and can't be responded to.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #12· Wizards of the Coast
An ability that triggers "when you unlock this door" triggers when that door becomes unlocked. This can happen one of two ways: (1) the door becomes unlocked on the battlefield or (2) the door becomes unlocked as the Room enters the battlefield because you cast the corresponding half. In the latter case, since the door becoming unlocked is what causes the ability to trigger, effects that cause abilities that trigger when a permanent enters to trigger an additional time (such as that of Panharmonicon) won't apply.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #13· Wizards of the Coast
Some abilities allow you to unlock a door of a Room you control. You can't choose to unlock a door that's already unlocked with such an ability. If such an ability requires a target, you can target a Room even if both of its doors are unlocked, but the ability won't do anything when it resolves.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #14· Wizards of the Coast
Some abilities allow you to lock a door of a Room you control. You can't choose to lock a door that's already locked with such an ability. If such an ability requires a target, you can target a Room even if both of its doors are locked, but the ability won't do anything when it resolves.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #15· Wizards of the Coast
Some doors have abilities that trigger whenever you unlock that door and require one or more targets. You can unlock that door even if there would be insufficient legal targets for that triggered ability. The triggered ability won't go on the stack.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #16· Wizards of the Coast
An ability that triggers "whenever you fully unlock a Room" triggers when a door becomes unlocked and the other door of that Room is already unlocked, or when both doors of that Room become unlocked simultaneously.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #17· Wizards of the Coast
A creature attacks alone if it's the only creature declared as an attacker during the declare attackers step (including creatures controlled by your teammates, if applicable). For example, the ability granted by Widow's Walk won't trigger if you attack with multiple creatures and all but one of them are removed from combat. Similarly, creatures that enter attacking later in combat won't be considered when determining whether or not a creature attacked alone.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Derelict Attic // Widow's Walk
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