Return of the NightstalkersHow it works & interactions with other cards

A Double-Edged Resurrection

When you cast Return of the Nightstalkers, the spell performs two distinct actions in the order written. First, it looks at your graveyard for any permanent cards with the Nightstalker subtype and puts them onto the battlefield. Second, it requires you to destroy every land you control that has the Swamp subtype. Because these effects happen during the resolution of a single spell, no player can cast spells or activate abilities between the Nightstalkers entering and your Swamps being destroyed.

Navigating the Resolution

The spell checks for Nightstalker permanent cards—which includes creatures and any other card types that might share the subtype—as it begins to resolve. Even if you have zero Nightstalkers in your graveyard, the second part of the spell still triggers, and all your Swamps will be destroyed. Note that this effect specifically targets permanents with the Swamp land type, which includes basic Swamps and non-basic lands with the Swamp subtype, such as dual lands.

Timing and Strategy

A common mistake is forgetting that 'destroy' effects are stopped by Indestructible. If your lands are made Indestructible before this spell resolves, you keep your Swamps. Additionally, since the Nightstalkers return first, any 'enters the battlefield' abilities they have will trigger, but they won't be put on the stack until after your Swamps are already gone.

Interaction examples

Building a Dark Army

If you have three Nightstalker creatures in your graveyard and five Swamps on the battlefield, casting this spell will bring all three creatures onto the battlefield simultaneously. Immediately afterward, all five of your Swamps are put into the graveyard. You are left with a strong board presence but must find new ways to generate black mana.

Managing Tribal Synergies

Kindred Dominance

If you use Return of the Nightstalkers to fill your board, you can follow up on a later turn with Kindred Dominance. By choosing 'Nightstalker,' you can clear your opponent's creatures while keeping your resurrected army safe, though you will need non-Swamp mana sources to cast it after your lands were destroyed.

Reanimation Chains

Breach the Multiverse

You can use Breach the Multiverse to mill cards and put a powerful Nightstalker from any graveyard into play. If that Nightstalker later dies, Return of the Nightstalkers can bring it back again. Note that Breach the Multiverse makes creatures Phyrexians in addition to their types, but Return of the Nightstalkers only checks for the Nightstalker type in the graveyard.