Return of the Mole ManHow it works & interactions with other cards

Stocking the Graveyard

The first ability of Return of the Mole Man is a Landfall trigger. Every time a land enters the battlefield under your control, you have the option to mill two cards. Since this ability says 'you may,' you can choose not to mill if your library is getting low. This serves as the engine to fuel the second ability by filling your graveyard with permanent cards like creatures, lands, and enchantments.

Generating the Moloid Swarm

The activated ability requires six mana and the sacrifice of the enchantment itself. Upon resolution, it checks your graveyard for the number of permanent cards currently there. You then create that many 1/1 green Minion tokens named Moloid. Because the ability checks the graveyard as it resolves, the Return of the Mole Man card itself will be in the graveyard (having been sacrificed as a cost) and will count toward the total value of X.

Token Mechanics and Timing

The Moloid tokens created have an triggered ability: 'Whenever this token attacks, you may mill a card.' This allows you to continue digging through your deck even after your main enchantment is gone. It is crucial to remember that the sacrifice ability can only be activated as a sorcery, meaning during your main phase while the stack is empty.

Common Mistakes

A frequent error is forgetting that X only counts 'permanent cards.' Spells like Instants and Sorceries in your graveyard will not contribute to the number of Moloids created. Additionally, because the sacrifice is a cost, players cannot respond to the activation by destroying Return of the Mole Man to prevent the tokens; once the ability is on the stack, the enchantment is already gone.

Interaction examples

Building the Horde

You have 5 permanent cards in your graveyard. You activate the ability by paying {5}{G} and sacrificing Return of the Mole Man. When the ability resolves, it counts the 5 original cards plus the Return of the Mole Man now in the graveyard. You create six 1/1 Moloid tokens.

Moloid Combat Synergy

Moloid

After activating Return of the Mole Man to create three Moloid tokens, you declare all three as attackers in your next combat phase. Each Moloid's ability triggers separately. You may choose to mill a card for each one, potentially adding three more permanents to your graveyard to fuel future recursion effects.

Enhancing the Swarm

Garruk's Uprising

If you have Garruk's Uprising on the battlefield, your Moloid tokens will gain trample. However, since the Moloids are 1/1 creatures, they will not trigger the 'draw a card' ability of Garruk's Uprising when they enter, as their power is not 4 or greater.

Interaction with Counters

Hardened Scales

While Hardened Scales is on the battlefield, it will not affect the Moloids created by Return of the Mole Man. This is because the Moloids enter as 1/1 creatures without any +1/+1 counters being 'put' on them during their creation.