Necropolis Fiend 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
Delve (Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for.) Flying
,
, Exile X cards from your graveyard: Target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn.
Complete guide
Necropolis Fiend is a massive Demon that rewards players for filling their graveyards. By utilizing the Delve mechanic, you can summon this flying threat much earlier than its high mana cost suggests and then use the remaining cards in your graveyard to pick off enemy creatures.
Understanding Delve
Delve is a keyword that allows you to pay for the generic mana in a spell's cost by exiling cards from your graveyard. For Necropolis Fiend, which costs {7}{B}{B}, you can exile up to seven cards to reduce the cost to just two Black mana. Note that Delve does not change the mana value of the card; it remains 9 regardless of how many cards you exile. You cannot exile more cards than the amount of generic mana required by the spell.
Shrinking the Competition
Once Necropolis Fiend is on the battlefield, it provides a powerful activated ability. By paying {X}, tapping it, and exiling exactly X cards from your graveyard, you can give a target creature -X/-X until the end of turn. This is an effective way to remove indestructible creatures or weaken a large attacker. Remember that exiling the cards is part of the cost, so those cards are gone before the ability even hits the stack.
Strategic Graveyard Management
The biggest challenge with Necropolis Fiend is balancing your resources. If you use all your graveyard cards to Delve the Fiend into play, you won't have any cards left to fuel its activated ability. It is often wise to leave a few cards behind so you can activate the -X/-X ability immediately if needed. Also, remember that you can only activate this ability at a time you have priority, usually during your own turn or in response to an opponent's action.
Interaction examples
Archon of CrueltyYour opponent controls an Archon of Cruelty. To remove it, you activate Necropolis Fiend's ability. You choose X=6, tap the Fiend, pay {6}, and exile 6 cards from your graveyard. The Archon of Cruelty gets -6/-6, reducing its toughness to 0 and causing it to be put into the graveyard as a state-based action.
Kozilek, Butcher of TruthIf Kozilek, Butcher of Truth is put into your graveyard, its triggered ability goes on the stack to shuffle your graveyard into your library. While that trigger is on the stack, you can activate Necropolis Fiend's ability. By exiling Kozilek as part of the cost for the Fiend's ability, you ensure Kozilek is removed from the game before the shuffle happens, though the rest of your graveyard will still be shuffled back.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Necropolis Fiend
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
Delve doesn't change a spell's mana cost or mana value. For example, Treasure Cruise's mana value is 8 even if you exiled three cards to cast it.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
You can exile cards to pay only for generic mana, and you can't exile more cards than the generic mana requirement of a spell with delve. For example, you can't exile more than seven cards from your graveyard to cast Treasure Cruise unless an effect has increased its cost.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
Because delve isn't an alternative cost, it can be used in conjunction with alternative costs, such as flashback. It can also be used to pay for additional costs that include generic mana.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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