Drivnod, Carnage Dominus 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
If a creature dying causes a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time., Exile three creature cards from your graveyard: Put an indestructible counter on Drivnod. (
or 2 life.)
Complete guide
Drivnod, Carnage Dominus is a powerhouse in graveyard-centric decks, doubling down on the misery of your opponent. This Phyrexian Horror ensures that every death in your ranks yields twice the benefit, while boasting the ability to protect itself by becoming indestructible.
Doubling the Death Rattle
Drivnod, Carnage Dominus has a static ability that looks for a specific event: a creature dying. When a creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, Drivnod checks if that event caused any triggered abilities of permanents you control to trigger. If it did, that ability triggers one additional time. This applies to 'when this creature dies' effects on the creature itself, as well as 'whenever a creature dies' effects on other permanents you control. It even applies to broader triggers like 'whenever a permanent is put into a graveyard from the battlefield' as long as the permanent that died was a creature at the time.
Step-by-Step Resolution
First, a creature dies and moves to the graveyard. Drivnod's static effect immediately identifies any relevant triggered abilities and adds an additional instance to the stack. You, as the controller, put these two separate triggers on the stack. You must choose targets and modes for each trigger independently. The triggers then resolve one at a time, allowing players to respond between each resolution. If a trigger has an optional cost, you must pay that cost for each instance separately to get the effect twice.
Common Mistakes and Clarifications
A common point of confusion is what counts as a death trigger. Drivnod only doubles abilities that trigger specifically because a creature died. It does not double 'whenever you sacrifice a creature' abilities, because the trigger event is the act of sacrificing, not the death itself. Additionally, Drivnod's effect is additive, not multiplicative. If you control two Drivnods, a death trigger will trigger three times total, not four. Finally, Drivnod will double its own death triggers and the triggers of other creatures dying simultaneously with it.
When to Play Drivnod
Drivnod is best played when you have a board state full of 'dies' triggers or 'leaves the battlefield' triggers that result from death. Because it can gain an indestructible counter at instant speed by exiling creature cards from your graveyard, it is a resilient threat that can survive most board wipes. Use it as a finisher to drain opponents for double the life or draw twice as many cards when your army eventually falls.
Interaction examples
Solemn SimulacrumWhen Solemn Simulacrum is put into your graveyard from the battlefield while you control Drivnod, Carnage Dominus, its 'when this creature dies' ability triggers twice. You will have two separate opportunities to draw a card, resulting in two cards drawn total.
Roaming ThroneIf Roaming Throne enters the battlefield and you choose 'Horror', it becomes a Horror in addition to its other types. If another Horror you control dies, Drivnod's ability triggers, and Roaming Throne's ability also triggers. Because these are replacement-style effects that add triggers, the death of a Horror results in three instances of that creature's death trigger being put on the stack.
If Drivnod, Carnage Dominus is destroyed at the same time as another creature you control, Drivnod still sees that death. For example, if a board wipe destroys Drivnod and a creature with a death trigger, Drivnod's static ability will cause that other creature's ability to trigger twice before Drivnod leaves the battlefield.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Drivnod, Carnage Dominus
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
Drivnod affects a creature's own "when this creature dies" triggered abilities as well as other triggered abilities that trigger when that creature dies. Such triggered abilities start with "when" or "whenever."
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
Drivnod's effect doesn't copy the triggered ability; it just causes the ability to trigger twice. Any choices made as you put the ability onto the stack, such as modes and targets, are made separately for each instance of the ability. Any choices made on resolution, such as whether to pay a cost for that triggered ability, are also made separately.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
The trigger event doesn't have to specifically refer to "creatures." In these cases, the trigger event may also refer to something being "put into a graveyard from the battlefield." For example, an ability that triggers "whenever an artifact is put into a graveyard from the battlefield" would trigger twice if an artifact creature dies while Drivnod, Carnage Dominus is on the battlefield.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
An ability that triggers when a creature "leaves the battlefield" will trigger twice if that creature leaves the battlefield by dying.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
An ability that triggers on an event that causes a creature to die doesn't trigger twice. For example, an ability that triggers "whenever you sacrifice a creature" triggers only once.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #6· Wizards of the Coast
Look at each creature as it exists on the battlefield, taking into account continuous effects, to determine whether any triggered abilities will trigger multiple times. For example, if a land that has become a creature dies, an ability that triggers when it dies triggers twice.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #7· Wizards of the Coast
If a creature dying at the same time that another permanent you control leaves the battlefield causes a triggered ability of that permanent to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #8· Wizards of the Coast
If a creature dying at the same time as Drivnod (including Drivnod itself dying) causes a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #9· Wizards of the Coast
If you somehow control two Drivnods, a creature dying causes abilities to trigger three times, not four. A third Drivnod causes abilities to trigger four times, a fourth causes abilities to trigger five times, and so on. This also means that if you control Drivnod and cast a second one, an ability that triggers when it dies due to the "legend rule" triggers three times.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Popular combos
Real combos played by the community, sorted by popularity.
Pitiless Plunderer + Reassembling Skeleton + Viscera Seer + Drivnod, Carnage Dominus
- 1Activate Viscera Seer by sacrificing Reassembling Skeleton.
- 2When Reassembling Skeleton dies, Pitiless Plunderer triggers twice, creating two Treasure tokens.
- 3Resolve the Viscera Seer ability.
- 4Activate the Treasure tokens by tapping and sacrificing them, adding
. - 5Activate Reassembling Skeleton by paying , returning it from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
- 6Repeat.
Pitiless Plunderer + Reassembling Skeleton + Carrion Feeder + Drivnod, Carnage Dominus
- 1Activate Carrion Feeder by sacrificing Reassembling Skeleton.
- 2When Reassembling Skeleton dies, Pitiless Plunderer triggers twice, creating two Treasure tokens.
- 3Resolve the Carrion Feeder ability.
- 4Activate the Treasure tokens by tapping and sacrificing them, adding .
- 5Activate Reassembling Skeleton by paying , returning it from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
- 6Repeat.
Pitiless Plunderer + Reassembling Skeleton + Yahenni, Undying Partisan + Drivnod, Carnage Dominus
- 1Activate Yahenni by sacrificing Reassembling Skeleton.
- 2When Reassembling Skeleton dies, Pitiless Plunderer triggers twice, creating two Treasure tokens.
- 3Resolve the Yahenni ability.
- 4Activate the Treasure tokens by tapping and sacrificing them, adding .
- 5Activate Reassembling Skeleton by paying , returning it from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
- 6Repeat.
Pitiless Plunderer + Reassembling Skeleton + Bartolomé del Presidio + Drivnod, Carnage Dominus
- 1Activate Bartolomé del Presidio by sacrificing Reassembling Skeleton.
- 2When Reassembling Skeleton dies, Pitiless Plunderer triggers twice, creating two Treasure tokens.
- 3Resolve the Bartolomé del Presidio ability.
- 4Activate the Treasure tokens by tapping and sacrificing them, adding .
- 5Activate Reassembling Skeleton by paying , returning it from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
- 6Repeat.
Pitiless Plunderer + Reassembling Skeleton + Woe Strider + Drivnod, Carnage Dominus
- 1Activate Woe Strider by sacrificing Reassembling Skeleton.
- 2When Reassembling Skeleton dies, Pitiless Plunderer triggers twice, creating two Treasure tokens.
- 3Resolve the Woe Strider ability.
- 4Activate the Treasure tokens by tapping and sacrificing them, adding .
- 5Activate Reassembling Skeleton by paying , returning it from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
- 6Repeat.
Pitiless Plunderer + Reassembling Skeleton + Umbral Collar Zealot + Drivnod, Carnage Dominus
- 1Activate Umbral Collar Zealot by sacrificing Reassembling Skeleton.
- 2When Reassembling Skeleton dies, Pitiless Plunderer triggers twice, creating two Treasure tokens.
- 3Resolve the Umbral Collar Zealot ability.
- 4Activate the Treasure tokens by tapping and sacrificing them, adding .
- 5Activate Reassembling Skeleton by paying , returning it from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
- 6Repeat.
Pitiless Plunderer + Reassembling Skeleton + Altar of Dementia + Drivnod, Carnage Dominus
- 1Activate Altar of Dementia by sacrificing Reassembling Skeleton.
- 2When Reassembling Skeleton dies, Pitiless Plunderer triggers twice, creating two Treasure tokens.
- 3Resolve the Altar of Dementia ability.
- 4Activate the Treasure tokens by tapping and sacrificing them, adding .
- 5Activate Reassembling Skeleton by paying , returning it from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
- 6Repeat.
Pitiless Plunderer + Reassembling Skeleton + Goblin Bombardment + Drivnod, Carnage Dominus
- 1Activate Goblin Bombardment by sacrificing Reassembling Skeleton.
- 2When Reassembling Skeleton dies, Pitiless Plunderer triggers twice, creating two Treasure tokens.
- 3Resolve the Goblin Bombardment ability.
- 4Activate the Treasure tokens by tapping and sacrificing them, adding .
- 5Activate Reassembling Skeleton by paying , returning it from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
- 6Repeat.
Legal formats
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