The Earth King 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
When The Earth King enters, create a 4/4 green Bear creature token. Whenever one or more creatures you control with power 4 or greater attack, search your library for up to that many basic land cards, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
Complete guide
The Earth King brings the strength of the land and its guardians to your command. By entering the battlefield with a powerful companion and rewarding aggressive maneuvers with a massive influx of resources, this legendary noble is a powerhouse for ramp strategies.
A Royal Entrance
When The Earth King enters the battlefield, its first ability triggers, placing a 4/4 green Bear creature token directly onto the field. This ensures you immediately have a creature capable of triggering the King's second ability during your next combat phase.
Expanding the Kingdom
The second ability triggers whenever one or more creatures you control with power 4 or greater are declared as attackers. Upon resolution, you count how many such creatures were declared as attackers at the moment the ability triggered. You then search your library for up to that many basic land cards and put them onto the battlefield tapped.
Power Shifts and Timing
A common mistake is worrying about what happens if your creatures are destroyed or shrunk in response to the trigger. The ability checks the number of qualifying attackers only at the moment they are declared; if a creature is removed from combat or its power is reduced after the trigger is on the stack, it still counts toward the number of lands you can find.
Strategic Deployment
To maximize The Earth King, ensure you have multiple creatures with 4 power ready to swing. Because the lands enter tapped, this ability is best used to set up massive plays for the following turn rather than providing immediate mana for the current second main phase.
Interaction examples
The Earth King
BearYou cast The Earth King. As it enters, its triggered ability goes on the stack. When it resolves, you create a 4/4 green Bear token. On your next turn, you can attack with both the Bear and The Earth King (who has 4 power) to search for up to two basic lands.
Solemn SimulacrumIf you have Solemn Simulacrum on the field and then play The Earth King, you get a land from the Simulacrum's entry and a Bear token from the King. However, attacking with the Simulacrum will not count toward The Earth King's trigger because its power is only 2, whereas the Bear and the King will each contribute a land search.
Eternal WitnessIf your Bear token is destroyed, you can use Eternal Witness to return a different high-power creature card to your hand. While Eternal Witness itself doesn't trigger the King's land search due to its low power, it helps you maintain the board presence needed to ensure your 'power 4 or greater' attackers keep the lands flowing.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : The Earth King
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
The Earth King's second ability counts the number of creatures with power 4 or greater you attack with when the ability triggers. Even if some or all of those creatures are no longer attacking or no longer have power 4 or greater when the ability resolves, they still count towards how many lands you can search for.
No other card is named in this ruling.
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Meta decks with The Earth King
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.