Rabble Rousing — ruling 1

“Hideaway N” means “When this permanent enters the battlefield, look at the top N cards of your library. Exile one of them face down and put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. The exiled card gains ‘The player who controls the permanent that exiled this card may look at this card in the exile zone.'”

Rabble Rousing — ruling 2

Any player who has controlled a permanent with a hideaway ability since a card was exiled with it may look at that card.

Rabble Rousing — ruling 3

Previously, permanents with hideaway entered the battlefield tapped. This ability has been removed from the definition of hideaway. Older cards have received errata to have an additional paragraph that reads “[This permanent] enters the battlefield tapped,” and they now have hideaway 4.

Rabble Rousing — ruling 4

Hideaway now causes you to put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your library in a random order instead of any order.

Rabble Rousing : règles, fonctionnement et interactions (MTG)

Rabble Rousing 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

Hideaway 5 (When this enchantment enters, look at the top five cards of your library, exile one face down, then put the rest on the bottom in a random order.) Whenever you attack with one or more creatures, create that many 1/1 green and white Citizen creature tokens. Then if you control ten or more creatures, you may play the exiled card without paying its mana cost.

Complete guide

Rabble Rousing is a powerful enchantment that turns every aggressive move into a massive board presence. By utilizing the Hideaway keyword, it allows you to tuck away a secret weapon to be unleashed once your army reaches critical mass.

Stashing a Secret

When Rabble Rousing enters the battlefield, its Hideaway 5 ability triggers. You look at the top five cards of your library, exile one face down, and put the rest on the bottom in a random order. You are allowed to look at this face-down card at any time as long as you control the enchantment.

Building the Crowd

The main ability triggers whenever you declare attackers. For every creature you attack with, you create a 1/1 green and white Citizen creature token. These tokens enter the battlefield tapped, but notably, they are not 'attacking' themselves, so they won't trigger the ability again in the same combat phase.

Unlocking the Hideaway

After the tokens are created, the ability checks if you control ten or more creatures. If you do, you may play the exiled card without paying its mana cost. You must follow normal timing restrictions for the card type (such as a sorcery) unless the effect specifically says otherwise, but Rabble Rousing allows you to play it during the resolution of the trigger. If you choose to play a land this way, it counts as your land play for the turn.

Common Pitfalls

Remember that the check for ten creatures happens AFTER the tokens are created. If you start with five creatures and attack with all of them, you will create five more, bringing you to ten and allowing you to cast the hidden card immediately. Also, if Rabble Rousing leaves the battlefield before you trigger the second part, the exiled card remains in exile indefinitely and cannot be played.

Interaction examples

Doubling the Population

Rabble Rousing

Anointed Procession

With Anointed Procession on the battlefield, attacking with three creatures will cause Rabble Rousing to attempt to create three Citizen tokens. Anointed Procession modifies this to create six tokens instead. If you already had four creatures, you now have ten, meeting the requirement to play your Hideaway card.

Managing Resources

Rabble Rousing

Smothering Tithe

While Smothering Tithe helps you generate Treasures to cast Rabble Rousing early, remember that Treasures are permanents but not creatures. Only the 1/1 Citizen tokens and your other creatures count toward the 'ten or more creatures' requirement needed to cast the exiled Hideaway card.

The Citizen Swarm

Rabble Rousing Citizen

Citizen

If you attack with five creatures, Rabble Rousing creates five 1/1 Citizen tokens. If those five new tokens plus your five attackers (and any other creatures you control) total ten or more, you may immediately play the face-down card you exiled earlier without paying its mana cost.

Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.

How it works : Rabble Rousing

Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall

#1April 29, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
“Hideaway N” means “When this permanent enters the battlefield, look at the top N cards of your library. Exile one of them face down and put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. The exiled card gains ‘The player who controls the permanent that exiled this card may look at this card in the exile zone.'”
No other card is named in this ruling.
#2April 29, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
Any player who has controlled a permanent with a hideaway ability since a card was exiled with it may look at that card.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#3April 29, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
Previously, permanents with hideaway entered the battlefield tapped. This ability has been removed from the definition of hideaway. Older cards have received errata to have an additional paragraph that reads “[This permanent] enters the battlefield tapped,” and they now have hideaway 4.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#4April 29, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
Hideaway now causes you to put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your library in a random order instead of any order.
No other card is named in this ruling.