Pompous Battlemage // Improvised Act 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
Prowess This creature enters prepared. (While it's prepared, you may cast a copy of its spell. Doing so unprepares it.) You may discard a card. If you do, draw a card.
Complete guide
Pompous Battlemage // Improvised Act introduces the innovative preparation mechanic, allowing a single card to serve as both an aggressive creature and a useful utility spell. By entering the battlefield 'prepared,' this Goblin Sorcerer stores a sorcery in exile that you can unleash at the perfect moment to filter your hand. This dual-natured card is a powerhouse for decks looking to maintain momentum while keeping their options open.
Understanding Preparation
Pompous Battlemage is a creature card in every zone except the stack when its alternative side is cast. When it enters the battlefield, it 'enters prepared.' This means its controller creates a copy of its prepare spell, Improvised Act, in exile. As long as the Battlemage remains on the battlefield and is prepared, you may cast that copy from exile. Once you cast the copy, the Battlemage becomes 'unprepared.' Importantly, the copy in exile is tied to that specific permanent; if the Battlemage leaves the battlefield, the copy in exile ceases to exist.
Step-by-Step Resolution
1. Cast Pompous Battlemage for {R}. While on the stack, it is a creature spell. 2. As it enters the battlefield, its 'enters prepared' ability triggers. You create a copy of Improvised Act in exile. 3. At any time you could cast a sorcery, you may cast Improvised Act from exile by paying {R}. 4. As you cast the spell, Pompous Battlemage immediately becomes unprepared. 5. If Pompous Battlemage is still on the battlefield when Improvised Act resolves, its Prowess ability will trigger because you cast a noncreature spell.
Common Pitfalls
A common mistake is thinking you can cast Improvised Act from your graveyard; however, preparation cards are strictly creature cards in the graveyard. Another point of confusion involves control: only the current controller of the Pompous Battlemage can cast the exiled Improvised Act. If an opponent takes control of your Battlemage, they gain the ability to cast the spell, and you lose it. Additionally, if the Battlemage loses its abilities (such as via 'losing all abilities' effects), it remains prepared, and the spell can still be cast.
Strategic Timing
Because Pompous Battlemage has Prowess, the most effective time to cast Improvised Act is during your main phase before combat. This allows you to discard a useless card, draw a potential threat, and buff the Battlemage's power and toughness all at once. Remember that since Improvised Act is a sorcery, you cannot use it as a mid-combat trick unless you have an effect that allows you to cast sorceries as though they had flash.
Interaction examples
Ornithopter of ParadiseYou have Ornithopter of Paradise on the battlefield. You tap it for {R} to cast Pompous Battlemage. It enters prepared. Later that turn, you tap a Land for {R} to cast the exiled Improvised Act. You discard a redundant land and draw a new card. This sequence triggers the Battlemage's Prowess, turning it into a 2/2 attacker for the turn.
Ragavan, Nimble PilfererIf your opponent attacks with Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and exiles Pompous Battlemage from the top of your library, they can cast it. When it enters under their control, they get the copy of Improvised Act in exile. Even though you own the card, only the opponent (the current controller of the creature) can cast the Improvised Act spell.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Pompous Battlemage // Improvised Act
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
Preparation cards can be cast only with their base characteristics.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
While copies of spells in zones other than the stack cease to exist when state-based actions are checked, this does not apply to copies of prepare spells in exile that were created as a creature became prepared.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
Only the current controller of a prepared creature can cast the copy of its prepare spell in exile. It doesn't matter who owns that creature or who controlled it when it became prepared.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
If an effect instructs you to choose a card name, you may choose the alternative prepare spell's name. Consider only the alternative characteristics to determine whether that is an appropriate name to choose.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
A preparation card is a creature card in every zone. For example, while it's in your graveyard, Diviner of Victory is a blue creature card whose mana value is 1. It can't be the target of Stingcaster Mage's triggered ability ("When this creature enters, target instant or sorcery card in your graveyard gains flashback until end of turn. The flashback cost is equal to its mana cost.").
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #6· Wizards of the Coast
If a prepared creature loses all abilities, it won't stop being prepared, and nothing will happen to its alternative characteristics or to the copy of its prepare spell in exile.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #7· Wizards of the Coast
If an effect causes a creature to become unprepared, a prepared creature stops being prepared and the associated copy of its prepare spell in exile ceases to exist. If it wasn't prepared at that time, nothing happens.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #8· Wizards of the Coast
A creature without a prepare spell can't become prepared.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #9· Wizards of the Coast
Creating a copy of a creature's prepare spell in exile ignores copy exceptions applied to that creature that would affect the copiable values of that spell. For example, say a player casts Croaking Counterpart (a sorcery that says "Create a token that's a copy of target non-Frog creature, except it's a 1/1 green Frog") targeting Diviner of Victory. The token copy of Diviner of Victory will enter prepared as a 1/1 green Frog creature, but the copy of Unwind History in exile will still be a blue sorcery. The copy of Unwind History won't be green, a creature, or a Frog, and it won't have power or toughness.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #10· Wizards of the Coast
As an effect causes a creature with a prepare spell to become prepared (including effects that state that a creature "enters prepared"), that creature's controller creates a copy of that creature's prepare spell in exile. That copy remains in exile for as long as that permanent is on the battlefield and is prepared. That creature's controller may cast that copy as long as it remains in exile. As they cast it, that creature stops being prepared.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #11· Wizards of the Coast
Being prepared isn't a copiable value. If a permanent becomes a copy of a prepared creature, it won't be prepared. That permanent will have the alternative characteristics, though, and some other effect could cause it to become prepared later.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #12· Wizards of the Coast
If a prepared creature stops being a creature, it will still be prepared, and the copy of its prepare spell will remain in exile. That permanent's controller will still be able to cast it. The same is true if a prepared creature becomes a copy of something else, even if it's then a permanent without a prepare spell.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #13· Wizards of the Coast
Casting a copy of a prepare spell from exile isn't casting it for an alternative cost. Effects that allow you to cast a spell for an alternative cost or without paying its mana cost may allow you to apply those to a copy of a prepare spell cast from exile.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #14· Wizards of the Coast
A creature with a prepare spell can't become prepared more than once at the same time. For example, say Bloodline Recollector is on the battlefield and is prepared. During the current turn, three creatures die. At the beginning of the end step, Bloodline Recollector's last ability triggers. When that ability resolves, since Bloodline Recollector is already prepared, the ability won't cause it to become prepared a second time or create a second copy of Ancestral Craving in exile.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #15· Wizards of the Coast
If a prepare spell with one or more targets has no legal targets when it tries to resolve, it won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. Since the spell was cast, the associated permanent will still not be prepared.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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