Waking the Trolls 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
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.) I — Destroy target land. II — Put target land card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. III — Choose target opponent. If they control fewer lands than you, create a number of 4/4 green Troll Warrior creature tokens with trample equal to the difference.
Complete guide
Waking the Trolls is a powerful Gruul Saga that rewards you for manipulating the land count on the battlefield. Over three turns, it transitions from resource denial to personal ramp, culminating in a massive army of Trolls to finish the game. This card is a powerhouse in any deck that can accelerate into six mana.
Saga Mechanics and Destruction
As a Saga, Waking the Trolls enters with one lore counter, triggering its Chapter I ability immediately. After your draw step each turn, you add another counter. The first chapter allows you to destroy any target land. This is a targeted ability, so if the land becomes an illegal target before the ability resolves—such as by gaining Hexproof—the ability will fizzle and no land will be destroyed.
Recycling and Resurrection
Chapter II triggers when the second counter is added. It targets a land card in any graveyard to put onto the battlefield under your control. Note that this doesn't have to be the land you destroyed in Chapter I; it can be a fetch land from your own graveyard or a powerful utility land your opponent discarded earlier in the game.
The Final Reckoning
The Chapter III ability checks the land count between you and a target opponent upon resolution. If you control more lands than them, you calculate the difference and create that many 4/4 green Troll Warrior tokens with trample. Once this ability leaves the stack, the Saga is sacrificed as a state-based action. If you control fewer or an equal number of lands when the ability resolves, you will not receive any tokens.
Strategic Considerations
To maximize the Trolls created, you want to widen the land gap. Destroying an opponent's land with Chapter I and stealing a land with Chapter II effectively creates a two-land swing in your favor. Be wary of opponents who can sacrifice their own lands in response to the Chapter III trigger, as this could potentially reduce the number of tokens you receive.
Interaction examples
Doubling Season
Troll WarriorIf you control Doubling Season when Chapter III resolves, two things happen. First, if you have more lands than your opponent, Doubling Season will double the number of Troll Warrior tokens created. Second, if you play Waking the Trolls while Doubling Season is out, it will enter with two lore counters instead of one, triggering both Chapter I and Chapter II immediately.
Unnatural GrowthAfter Waking the Trolls resolves its third chapter and creates multiple 4/4 Troll Warrior tokens, Unnatural Growth can turn that army into a game-ending threat. At the beginning of combat, each Troll Warrior will double in size to 8/8. Because they have trample, blocking them becomes extremely difficult for your opponent.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Waking the Trolls
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
As a Saga enters the battlefield, its controller puts a lore counter on it. As your precombat main phase begins (immediately after your draw step), you put another lore counter on each Saga you control. Putting a lore counter on a Saga in either of these ways doesn’t use the stack.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
Each symbol on the left of a Saga’s text box represents a chapter ability. A chapter ability is a triggered ability that triggers when a lore counter that is put on the Saga causes the number of lore counters on the Saga to become equal to or greater than the ability’s chapter number. Chapter abilities are put onto the stack and may be responded to.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
A chapter ability doesn’t trigger if a lore counter is put on a Saga that already had a number of lore counters greater than or equal to that chapter’s number. For example, the third lore counter put on a Saga causes the chapter III ability to trigger, but chapters I and II won’t trigger again.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
Once a chapter ability has triggered, the ability on the stack won’t be affected if the Saga gains or loses counters, or if it leaves the battlefield.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
If multiple chapter abilities trigger at the same time, their controller puts them on the stack in any order. If any of them require targets, those targets are chosen as you put the abilities on the stack, before any of those abilities resolve.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #6· Wizards of the Coast
Removing lore counters won’t cause a previous chapter ability to trigger. If lore counters are removed from a Saga, the appropriate chapter abilities will trigger again when the Saga receives more lore counters.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #7· Wizards of the Coast
Once the number of lore counters on a Saga is greater than or equal to the greatest number among its chapter abilities, the Saga’s controller sacrifices it as soon as its chapter ability has left the stack, most likely by resolving or being countered. This state-based action doesn’t use the stack.
No other card is named in this ruling.
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Meta decks with Waking the Trolls
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.