Noctis, Prince of Lucis 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
Lifelink You may cast artifact spells from your graveyard by paying 3 life in addition to paying their other costs. If you cast a spell this way, that artifact enters with a finality counter on it.
Complete guide
Noctis, Prince of Lucis is a powerful commander who turns your graveyard into an extension of your hand for your mechanical treasures. By paying a small toll in blood, you can recycle your most powerful artifacts to maintain board presence. However, the shadows of the Lucis lineage bring a permanent end to these relics if they should ever fall again.
Recalling the Royal Armory
Noctis allows you to cast artifact spells directly from your graveyard. To do this, you must pay 3 life as an additional cost alongside the spell's normal mana cost. This ability doesn't change when you can cast the spell; you must still follow timing rules, meaning artifact creatures can usually only be cast during your main phase when the stack is empty.
The Weight of the Finality Counter
When an artifact cast via Noctis enters the battlefield, it receives a finality counter. This counter is a physical reminder of the card's fragile state. If a permanent with a finality counter would be put into a graveyard from the battlefield, it is exiled instead. This replacement effect applies regardless of whether the permanent has lost its abilities, though it does not prevent the card from being returned to your hand or shuffled into your library.
Common Pitfalls
A frequent mistake is forgetting that finality counters are redundant; having two on a creature doesn't change the outcome of it dying. Additionally, note that the 3 life is an additional cost, not a replacement for mana. If you cannot pay the 3 life, you cannot initiate the casting process. Finally, remember that the exile effect only triggers if the object moves from the battlefield to the graveyard specifically.
Strategic Execution
Because Noctis has Lifelink, he can easily offset the 3 life cost by attacking. Use your artifacts as disposable resources, knowing they can return at least once more. It is often best to save this ability for artifacts with powerful 'enters' abilities to maximize the value before the finality counter eventually exiles them.
Interaction examples
Solemn SimulacrumIf Solemn Simulacrum is in your graveyard, you can pay {4} and 3 life to cast it using Noctis's ability. It enters the battlefield with a finality counter, and you search for a basic land. When it eventually dies, you still get to draw a card because its ability triggers upon death, but instead of the Golem going back to the graveyard, the finality counter causes it to be exiled.
Roaming ThroneCast Roaming Throne from your graveyard by paying {4} and 3 life. As it enters, choose 'Human'. It now has a finality counter on it. Because Noctis is a Human Noble, if Noctis's Lifelink results in a triggered ability (granted by other cards), Roaming Throne would cause it to trigger an additional time. If Roaming Throne is destroyed, the finality counter ensures it is exiled rather than returning to the graveyard for a third use.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Noctis, Prince of Lucis
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
Finality counters don't stop permanents from going to zones other than the graveyard from the battlefield. For example, if a permanent with a finality counter on it would be put into its owner's hand from the battlefield, it does so normally.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
Finality counters work on any permanent, not only creatures. If a permanent with a finality counter on it would be put into a graveyard from the battlefield, exile it instead.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
Finality counters aren't keyword counters, and a finality counter doesn't give any abilities to the permanent it's on. If that permanent loses its abilities and then would go to a graveyard, it will still be exiled instead.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
You pay all costs and follow all timing rules for artifact spells cast with the permission granted by Noctis's last ability.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
Multiple finality counters on a single permanent are redundant.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Popular combos
Real combos played by the community, sorted by popularity.
Noctis, Prince of Lucis + Aetherflux Reservoir + Vexing Bauble
- 1Cast the artifact from your graveyard by paying
and 3 life. - 2Aetherflux Reservoir and Vexing Bauble trigger.
- 3Resolve the Aetherflux Reservoir trigger, causing you to gain 1 life for each spell you've cast this turn.
- 4Resolve the Vexing Bauble trigger, countering the artifact and returning it to your graveyard.
- 5Repeat
Noctis, Prince of Lucis + Aetherflux Reservoir + Solemnity + Lotus Petal
- 1Cast Lotus Petal from your graveyard by paying and 3 life. It will not enter with a finality counter due to Solemnity.
- 2Aetherflux Reservoir triggers, causing you to gain 1 life for each spell you've cast this turn.
- 3Resolve Lotus Petal, and it will not enter with a finality counter due to Solemnity.
- 4Activate Lotus Petal by tapping and sacrificing it, adding one mana of any color.
- 5Repeat
Noctis, Prince of Lucis + Aetherflux Reservoir + Solemnity + Mishra's Bauble
- 1Cast Mishra's Bauble from your graveyard by paying and 3 life. It will not enter with a finality counter due to Solemnity.
- 2Aetherflux Reservoir triggers, causing you to gain 1 life for each spell you've cast this turn.
- 3Resolve Mishra's Bauble, and it will not enter with a finality counter due to Solemnity.
- 4Activate Mishra's Bauble by tapping and sacrificing it, adding one mana of any color.
- 5Repeat
Noctis, Prince of Lucis + Aetherflux Reservoir + Hex Parasite + Lotus Petal
- 1Cast Lotus Petal from your graveyard by paying and 3 life. It will not enter with a finality counter due to Solemnity.
- 2Aetherflux Reservoir triggers, causing you to gain 1 life for each spell you've cast this turn.
- 3Activate Hex Parasite by paying
, removing the finality counter from Lotus Petal. - 4Activate Lotus Petal by tapping and sacrificing it, adding .
- 5Repeat
Noctis, Prince of Lucis + Aetherflux Reservoir + Mox Diamond
- 1Cast Mox Diamond from your graveyard by paying and 3 life.
- 2Aetherflux Reservoir triggers, causing you to gain 1 life for each spell you've cast this turn.
- 3Resolve the Mox Diamond spell, choosing to not have it enter the battlefield and be put into your graveyard instead.
- 4Repeat
Noctis, Prince of Lucis + Aetherflux Reservoir + Chalice of the Void
- 1Cast the artifact from your graveyard by paying and 3 life.
- 2Aetherflux Reservoir and Chalice of the Void trigger.
- 3Resolve the Aetherflux Reservoir trigger, causing you to gain 1 life for each spell you've cast this turn.
- 4Resolve the Chalice of the Void trigger, countering the artifact and returning it to your graveyard.
- 5Repeat
Noctis, Prince of Lucis + Aetherflux Reservoir + Solemnity + Urza's Bauble
- 1Cast Urza's Bauble from your graveyard by paying and 3 life. It will not enter with a finality counter due to Solemnity.
- 2Aetherflux Reservoir triggers, causing you to gain 1 life for each spell you've cast this turn.
- 3Resolve Urza's Bauble, and it will not enter with a finality counter due to Solemnity.
- 4Activate Urza's Bauble by tapping and sacrificing it.
- 5Repeat
Noctis, Prince of Lucis + Aetherflux Reservoir + Solemnity + Tormod's Crypt
- 1Cast Tormod's Crypt from your graveyard by paying and 3 life. It will not enter with a finality counter due to Solemnity.
- 2Aetherflux Reservoir triggers, causing you to gain 1 life for each spell you've cast this turn.
- 3Resolve Tormod's Crypt, and it will not enter with a finality counter due to Solemnity.
- 4Activate Tormod's Crypt by tapping and sacrificing it, exiling an opponent's graveyard
- 5Repeat
Legal formats
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