Hour of Reckoning 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
Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays foror one mana of that creature's color.) Destroy all nontoken creatures.
Complete guide
Hour of Reckoning is a powerful white sorcery that can turn a board full of small tokens into a one-sided slaughter. By using your army to fuel its Convoke ability, you can cast this board wipe significantly earlier than expected while keeping your token forces intact.
How Convoke Works
While casting Hour of Reckoning, you can tap untapped creatures you control instead of paying mana. Each creature pays for either {1} or one mana of that creature's color. Since this spell costs {4}{W}{W}{W}, you could tap three white creatures to pay for the white mana requirements and four other creatures of any color to cover the generic costs. Note that creatures with 'summoning sickness' can still be tapped for Convoke, as the ability does not use the tap symbol.
Resolution and Token Safety
Upon resolution, Hour of Reckoning destroys all nontoken creatures. Any creature that is not a token will be put into its owner's graveyard. This means any creature created by a spell or ability (like a Soldier, Zombie, or Copy token) remains on the battlefield, while 'real' creature cards are eliminated.
Common Mistakes
A common error is trying to tap the same creature for a mana ability and Convoke simultaneously. If you sacrifice a creature to generate mana or tap a creature for its own mana ability, that creature is either gone or already tapped by the time you reach the 'pay costs' step of casting. You cannot 'double dip' on the mana value of a single creature.
Strategic Timing
Because Hour of Reckoning is a sorcery, it is best used when you have established a board of tokens that can both pay for its cost and survive its effect. It is a proactive board wipe that rewards go-wide strategies, unlike more flexible but symmetrical options like Austere Command or Farewell.
Interaction examples
Austere CommandIf you control ten 1/1 Soldier tokens and your opponent controls several large non-token creatures, you can tap seven of your tokens to cast Hour of Reckoning for zero mana. Unlike Austere Command, which might force you to destroy your own small tokens to hit the opponent's creatures, Hour of Reckoning leaves your entire army untouched while clearing the way for an attack.
FarewellSuppose your opponent has a graveyard full of threats and a board of artifacts. While Farewell provides a clean exile for everything including tokens, it requires seven actual mana. Hour of Reckoning allows you to use your creatures as mana rocks, letting you wipe the board even if your lands are tapped or destroyed, provided you only need to remove the physical creatures.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Hour of Reckoning
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
You can tap any untapped creature you control to convoke a spell, even one you haven't controlled continuously since the beginning of your most recent turn.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
Tapping an untapped creature that's attacking or blocking to convoke a spell won't cause that creature to stop attacking or blocking.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
When calculating a spell's total cost, include any alternative costs, additional costs, or anything else that increases or reduces the cost to cast the spell. Convoke applies after the total cost is calculated. Convoke doesn't change a spell's mana cost or mana value.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
If a creature you control has a mana ability with
in the cost, activating that ability while casting a spell with convoke will result in the creature being tapped before you pay the spell's costs. You won't be able to tap it again for convoke. Similarly, if you sacrifice a creature to activate a mana ability while casting a spell with convoke, that creature won't be on the battlefield when you pay the spell's costs, so you won't be able to tap it for convoke.No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
Because convoke isn't an alternative cost, it can be used in conjunction with alternative costs.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #6· Wizards of the Coast
Tapping a multicolored creature using convoke will pay for
or one mana of your choice of any of that creature's colors.No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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