Winged Portent 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
Cleave(You may cast this spell for its cleave cost. If you do, remove the words in square brackets.) Draw a card for each creature you control [with flying].
Complete guide
Winged Portent is a versatile blue instant from Innistrad: Crimson Vow that offers card advantage scaled to your board presence. By utilizing the Cleave mechanic, you can decide whether to focus exclusively on your aerial attackers or draw from your entire army. This flexibility makes it a powerful tool for both specialized tempo decks and general creature-heavy strategies.
What It Does
At its base cost of {1}{U}{U}, Winged Portent allows you to draw a card for each creature you control with flying. However, if you pay the Cleave cost of {4}{G}{U}, you ignore the text in brackets. This means the spell effectively reads: 'Draw a card for each creature you control.' This turns a niche draw spell into a massive card-draw engine that counts every creature on your side of the battlefield, regardless of their abilities.
How It Resolves Step by Step
First, you choose which cost to pay as you cast the spell. Once Winged Portent begins to resolve, the game checks how many creatures you control that meet the criteria (either only those with flying, or all creatures if Cleave was paid). You then draw that many cards all at once. The number of creatures is checked only at the moment of resolution; if a creature is destroyed in response to the spell, it will not be counted.
Common Mistakes
A frequent error involves mana value: even if you pay the {4}{G}{U} Cleave cost, the mana value of Winged Portent remains 3. You also cannot combine Cleave with other alternative costs. For example, if an effect lets you cast spells from your graveyard for a specific cost, you cannot choose to pay the Cleave cost instead. Finally, remember that the spell only counts creatures you control, not your opponents' creatures.
When to Play It
Cast this at the end of your opponent's turn to maximize your hand size for your upcoming turn. If you have a board full of Spirit tokens, the standard cost is efficient. If your board consists of ground-based threats, wait until you have the six mana required for the Cleave cost to ensure you don't waste the spell drawing zero cards.
Interaction examples
Beast WithinIf you cast Winged Portent for its standard cost while controlling one Bird with flying, your opponent can respond with Beast Within to destroy your Bird. When Winged Portent resolves, it checks your board, sees zero creatures with flying, and you draw zero cards. However, you will now control a 3/3 Beast token.
CounterspellWhen you cast Winged Portent for its Cleave cost of {4}{G}{U}, it is still a spell on the stack. An opponent can use Counterspell to target it. Because Cleave is an alternative cost and not a separate ability, if the spell is countered, you lose the mana spent and draw no cards.
Imagine you control three 1/1 Soldiers and two 2/2 Birds. If you cast Winged Portent for {1}{U}{U}, you draw 2 cards. If you wait until you have {4}{G}{U} to Cleave the spell, the bracketed text '[with flying]' is removed, and you draw 5 cards total.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Winged Portent
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
If you cast a spell for its cleave cost, that spell doesn't have any of the text in square brackets while it's on the stack.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
A cleave cost is an alternative cost that's paid instead of the spell's mana cost. Casting a spell for its cleave cost doesn't change the spell's mana value.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
You can't cast a spell for both its cleave cost and another alternative cost. For example, if an effect gives an Alchemist's Retrieval in your graveyard a flashback cost of
, you can't cast it from your graveyard for its cleave cost.No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
If an effect allows you to “cast a spell without paying its mana cost,” you can't cast that spell for its cleave cost.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Winged Portent
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