Lord of Extinction 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
Lord of Extinction's power and toughness are each equal to the number of cards in all graveyards.
Complete guide
Lord of Extinction is a terrifying Elemental that serves as a living monument to the fallen. Its power and toughness scale directly with the size of every graveyard in the game, making it a potentially massive threat in the later stages of a match.
Scaling Power and Toughness
Lord of Extinction possesses a characteristic-defining ability that sets its power and toughness equal to the total number of cards in all graveyards. This isn't just a battlefield effect; this ability functions in your hand, library, and even while it is in the graveyard itself.
Continuous Updates
The stats of Lord of Extinction are updated constantly. As soon as a card is put into any graveyard or removed from one, the Lord's power and toughness change immediately. This does not use the stack and cannot be responded to.
Spells and State-Based Actions
When an instant or sorcery is cast that affects Lord of Extinction, such as a damage spell, that spell finishes resolving and is placed into the graveyard before the game checks if the Lord has taken lethal damage. This means the spell itself will contribute to the Lord's toughness just in time to potentially save it.
Strategic Considerations
Because it relies on the graveyard, Lord of Extinction is most effective in decks that focus on milling or sacrifice strategies. It is particularly vulnerable to graveyard hate, as cards like Rest in Peace will immediately reduce its power and toughness to zero.
Interaction examples
Solemn SimulacrumIf you control Lord of Extinction and your Solemn Simulacrum dies, two things happen. First, Solemn Simulacrum is put into the graveyard. Immediately, Lord of Extinction's power and toughness increase by 1. Then, the Simulacrum's triggered ability to draw a card is put onto the stack.
Roaming ThroneIf you have Roaming Throne on the battlefield with 'Elemental' chosen as its type, it will not affect Lord of Extinction. This is because Lord of Extinction has a static characteristic-defining ability, not a triggered ability (which usually start with 'When', 'Whenever', or 'At'). Roaming Throne only interacts with triggered abilities.
If Lord of Extinction is in your graveyard and there are 9 other cards spread across all graveyards, Lord of Extinction is a 10/10. It counts itself because the ability functions in all zones.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Lord of Extinction
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
The ability that defines Lord of Extinction's power and toughness works in all zones, not just the battlefield. If Lord of Extinction is in your graveyard, it will count itself.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
If an instant or sorcery spell deals damage to Lord of Extinction or lowers its toughness, that spell is put into its owner's graveyard before state-based actions are performed. That card will raise Lord of Extinction's toughness before the game checks to see if it dies.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Popular combos
Real combos played by the community, sorted by popularity.
Mayael's Aria + Lord of Extinction
- 1At the beginning of your upkeep, Mayael's Aria triggers, causing you to put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control, gain ten life, and win the game.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Lord of Extinction
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.