Ward of Bones 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
Each opponent who controls more creatures than you can't cast creature spells. The same is true for artifacts and enchantments. Each opponent who controls more lands than you can't play lands.
Complete guide
Ward of Bones is a powerful artifact that locks your opponents into a smaller board state, preventing them from pulling ahead in resources. By checking the number of permanents you control, it creates a ceiling that your opponents simply cannot exceed. It is a quintessential stax piece that punishes players for having a more developed battlefield than yours.
Maintaining the Status Quo
Ward of Bones establishes a continuous effect that monitors four specific permanent types: creatures, artifacts, enchantments, and lands. If an opponent has more of any of these types than you do, they are restricted from playing or casting cards of that specific type. This does not remove what is already on the battlefield, but it stops further development dead in its tracks.
The Timing of the Lock
The restriction applies as a static ability. This means the game constantly checks the count of your permanents versus your opponents' permanents. If you sacrifice a creature and suddenly have fewer creatures than your opponent, they instantly lose the ability to cast creature spells. Because this is a static restriction, it does not use the stack and cannot be responded to once the count changes.
Playing Lands vs. Casting Spells
It is important to note the distinction in the card's text. For creatures, artifacts, and enchantments, it prevents 'casting' spells. For lands, it prevents 'playing' lands. This means an opponent cannot use their one land drop per turn if they control more lands than you, nor can they use effects that allow them to play additional lands from their hand or graveyard.
Common Pitfalls
Ward of Bones only looks at the number of permanents of a specific type. It does not care about total permanents. You might control ten artifacts and zero creatures; in this scenario, an opponent with one creature and zero artifacts can still cast artifacts, but they cannot cast creatures. Additionally, this effect only targets opponents; you are never restricted by your own Ward of Bones.
Interaction examples
Vanquisher's Banner
Gilded LotusIf you control Ward of Bones and Gilded Lotus (2 artifacts), and your opponent controls Vanquisher's Banner (1 artifact), your opponent can still cast artifact spells. However, if your opponent casts another artifact and now controls 2, they cannot cast a third artifact because they no longer have fewer artifacts than you. They are effectively capped at the same number of artifacts you currently control.
Suppose you control Ward of Bones and zero creatures. Your opponent controls a single creature token and has Vanquisher's Banner on the field. Because 1 is greater than 0, your opponent cannot cast any creature spells. Even though Vanquisher's Banner would trigger upon casting a creature, the spell can never be cast in the first place, so no card draw occurs.
With Ward of Bones on the battlefield, if you have 4 lands and your opponent has 5, they cannot play a 6th land. If you then play a land to reach 5, the counts are equal. Because the card says 'more lands than you,' your opponent still cannot play a land until you reach 6 or they lose lands somehow.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Ward of Bones
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
Spelling this out completely: — Each opponent who controls more creatures than you can’t play creature cards. — Each opponent who controls more artifacts than you can’t play artifact cards. — Each opponent who controls more enchantments than you can’t play enchantment cards. — Each opponent who controls more lands than you can’t play land cards.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Ward of Bones
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.