Lich-Knights' ConquestHow it works & interactions with other cards

What it Does

This sorcery facilitates a massive exchange: you sacrifice any number of artifacts, enchantments, or tokens you control, and in return, you put an equal number of creature cards from your graveyard onto the battlefield. Crucially, the sacrifice happens during the resolution of the spell, not as an additional cost. This means you don't have to commit to losing your permanents until the spell is guaranteed to resolve.

How it Resolves Step by Step

First, as the spell begins to resolve, you choose which artifacts, enchantments, and tokens to sacrifice. Second, you count the number of permanents you just sacrificed. Third, you choose that many creature cards in your graveyard to return to the battlefield. Finally, all those creatures enter the battlefield simultaneously. If any abilities trigger during this process, they wait until the spell is completely finished resolving before being put on the stack.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

A common point of confusion is whether you can return the same cards you sacrificed. Because you sacrifice permanents first and then choose cards to return, a sacrificed artifact creature or enchantment creature is technically in the graveyard when it comes time to pick your targets. This allows you to sacrifice a creature token to bring back a 'real' creature, or even sacrifice an enchantment creature to immediately return it to the battlefield along with other friends.

When to Play it

The best time to cast Lich-Knights' Conquest is after a board wipe or when you have accumulated several low-value tokens. Since the sacrifice is optional, you can choose to sacrifice zero permanents if your graveyard is empty, though the spell will have no effect. It is most effective in decks that generate many Treasure, Food, or Clue tokens, converting those resources into a game-winning board state.

Interaction examples

Recovering from a Board Wipe

Damnation

After your opponent casts Damnation to destroy all your creatures, your graveyard is full but your board is empty of threats. If you have several Treasure tokens remaining, you can cast Lich-Knights' Conquest, sacrifice three Treasures, and immediately bring back your three best creatures that were just destroyed.

Mass Reanimation Comparison

Living Death

Unlike Living Death, which forces all players to swap their boards for their graveyards, Lich-Knights' Conquest is surgical. You only sacrifice the tokens or non-creature permanents you want to lose, and you only return the specific number of creatures you need. This allows you to keep your existing non-token creatures on the battlefield while adding more from the graveyard.