Westvale Abbey // Ormendahl, Profane PrinceHow it works & interactions with other cards

Unlocking the Profane Prince

Westvale Abbey has three distinct abilities on its front face. The first provides colorless mana, while the second allows you to spend five mana and 1 life to create a 1/1 white and black Human Cleric creature token. The most powerful ability, however, is the third one: by paying five mana, tapping the land, and sacrificing five creatures, you transform the land into Ormendahl, Profane Prince. Note that this transformation also untaps the permanent, allowing Ormendahl to attack immediately thanks to its haste ability.

The Transformation Step-by-Step

To successfully transform the Abbey, you must first have five creatures on the battlefield and access to five mana. When you activate the ability, you pay the mana cost and sacrifice the five creatures as part of the cost to put the ability on the stack. Once the ability resolves, Westvale Abbey transforms into its back face, Ormendahl, Profane Prince, and untaps. Because the transformation and untapping happen as the ability resolves, your opponent cannot use a removal spell to destroy your creatures in response to keep you from paying the cost—the creatures are already gone by the time they can react.

Indestructible but Not Invincible

Ormendahl, Profane Prince is a 9/7 legendary creature with Flying, Lifelink, Indestructible, and Haste. While 'Indestructible' protects it from effects that say 'destroy' and from lethal combat damage, it can still be dealt with. Effects that reduce toughness to zero, exile effects, or abilities that force you to sacrifice the creature will still remove Ormendahl from the battlefield. Additionally, if the transformation ability is countered or if the land is destroyed while the ability is on the stack, you will have already lost your five creatures.

When to Activate

Timing is crucial when transforming Westvale Abbey. Because you must sacrifice five creatures, you are effectively 'all-in' on the transformation. It is often best to wait until your opponent is tapped out or has used their exile-based removal. Since Ormendahl has haste, the best time to activate is during your main phase so you can swing for 9 points of lifelink damage immediately. Alternatively, if your creatures are about to die to a board wipe, you can sacrifice them in response to the spell to at least get a massive Demon out of the deal.

Interaction examples

Creating an Army of Clerics

Westvale Abbey // Ormendahl, Profane PrinceHuman Cleric

If the game stalls out, you can use Westvale Abbey's second ability during your opponent's end turn. By paying 5 mana and 1 life, you create a 1/1 Human Cleric. Over several turns, the Abbey builds its own fuel for its final transformation without needing you to cast additional creature spells.

Sacrificing for Value

Westvale Abbey // Ormendahl, Profane PrinceViscera Seer

If you have Viscera Seer and Westvale Abbey on the battlefield along with four other creatures, you have choices. If your opponent tries to exile one of your creatures, you can use Viscera Seer to sacrifice it first to scry. However, if you want to transform the Abbey, you must choose which ability to use. You cannot sacrifice the same creature to both Viscera Seer and the Abbey's transformation cost.

Dealing with X-Spells

Westvale Abbey // Ormendahl, Profane PrinceWalking Ballista

Imagine you have a Walking Ballista with several counters. You can choose to sacrifice the Ballista as one of the five creatures required to transform Westvale Abbey. Before you activate the Abbey, you can use the Ballista's ability to remove its counters and deal damage to your opponent. Once the Ballista is sacrificed to the Abbey, it is gone, and you resolve the transformation to bring out Ormendahl.