Wire Surgeons — ruling 1

Exiling the card with encore is a cost to activate the ability. Once you announce that you’re activating it, no player may take actions until you’ve finished. They can’t try to remove the card from your graveyard to stop you from paying the cost.

Wire Surgeons — ruling 2

Opponents who have left the game aren’t counted when determining how many tokens to create.

Wire Surgeons — ruling 3

The tokens copy only what’s on the original card. Effects that modified that creature when it was previously on the battlefield won’t be copied.

Wire Surgeons — ruling 4

Each token must attack the appropriate player if able.

Wire Surgeons — ruling 5

If one of the tokens can’t attack for any reason (such as being tapped), then it doesn’t attack. If there’s a cost associated with having it attack, you aren’t forced to pay that cost, so it doesn’t have to attack in that case either.

Wire Surgeons — ruling 6

If an effect stops a token from attacking a specific player, that token can attack any player or planeswalker, or not attack at all. If the effect stops the token from attacking a specific player unless a cost is paid, you don’t have to pay that cost unless you want to attack that player.

Wire Surgeons — ruling 7

If one of the tokens somehow is under another player’s control as the delayed triggered ability resolves, you can’t sacrifice that token. It remains on the battlefield indefinitely, even if you regain control of it later.

Wire Surgeons : règles, fonctionnement et interactions (MTG)

Wire Surgeons 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

Fear (This creature can't be blocked except by artifact creatures and/or black creatures.) Each artifact creature card in your graveyard has encore. Its encore cost is equal to its mana cost. (Exile it and pay its mana cost: For each opponent, create a token copy that attacks that opponent this turn if able. They gain haste. Sacrifice them at the beginning of the next end step. Activate only as a sorcery.)

Complete guide

Wire Surgeons is a powerhouse for artifact-heavy decks, turning your graveyard into a recurring source of mechanical mayhem. By granting your artifact creatures the encore keyword, it ensures that even in death, your machines can deliver one final, devastating blow. This Human Artificer not only strikes fear into blockers but also provides an explosive way to finish games through sheer numbers.

Unpacking Encore

While Wire Surgeons is on the battlefield, every artifact creature card in your graveyard gains encore. This keyword allows you to exile the card from your graveyard as a sorcery and pay its mana cost to create token copies. You create one token for each opponent currently in the game; these tokens gain haste and must attack their assigned opponent if able. At the beginning of the next end step, these tokens are sacrificed.

Step-by-Step Resolution

First, ensure it is your main phase and the stack is empty. Announce the encore ability, pay the mana cost, and exile the artifact creature card—opponents cannot respond to this cost by trying to exile the card from your graveyard. Next, the ability goes on the stack and, when it resolves, creates the tokens. Each token enters the battlefield with haste and a requirement to attack a specific opponent. During your combat phase, you declare them as attackers. Finally, at the beginning of the next end step, a delayed trigger occurs, forcing you to sacrifice any of these tokens you still control.

Common Pitfalls

A common mistake is forgetting that the encore cost is equal to the mana cost of the card in the graveyard. Additionally, the 'sacrifice at end step' is a triggered ability; if a token is phased out or under another player's control when that trigger resolves, it will not be sacrificed and will remain on the battlefield indefinitely. Remember that if a token cannot attack its assigned opponent due to a restriction or cost (like Propaganda), it is free to attack a different player, a planeswalker, or not attack at all.

Strategic Timing

Wire Surgeons is best played in the mid-to-late game when your graveyard is stocked with high-impact artifact creatures. Because encore tokens copy all 'enters the battlefield' abilities, look for artifacts that provide immediate value. It is also an excellent tool for breaking stalemates in multiplayer games, as it forces damage through multiple defenses simultaneously while benefiting from cards that trigger whenever creatures leave the graveyard.

Interaction examples

Drain the Table

Gray Merchant of Asphodel

If Gray Merchant of Asphodel is an artifact creature (perhaps due to an external effect or if it were naturally an artifact), Wire Surgeons gives it encore {3}{B}{B}. In a four-player game, you create three tokens. Each token's enters-the-battlefield ability triggers. Since the tokens are permanents you control, they each contribute {B}{B} to your devotion to black, potentially leading to a massive life-swing as each trigger calculates your total devotion at the time of resolution.

Syr Konrad's Sting

Syr Konrad, the Grim

With Syr Konrad, the Grim on the battlefield, activating an encore ability becomes even deadlier. When you exile an artifact creature card from your graveyard to pay the encore cost, Syr Konrad triggers and deals 1 damage to each opponent because a creature card left your graveyard. Later, during the end step, when the tokens are sacrificed and put into the graveyard, Syr Konrad triggers again for each token that 'dies,' doubling down on the damage output.

Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.

How it works : Wire Surgeons

Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall

#1October 14, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
Exiling the card with encore is a cost to activate the ability. Once you announce that you’re activating it, no player may take actions until you’ve finished. They can’t try to remove the card from your graveyard to stop you from paying the cost.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#2October 14, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
Opponents who have left the game aren’t counted when determining how many tokens to create.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#3October 14, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
The tokens copy only what’s on the original card. Effects that modified that creature when it was previously on the battlefield won’t be copied.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#4October 14, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
Each token must attack the appropriate player if able.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#5October 14, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
If one of the tokens can’t attack for any reason (such as being tapped), then it doesn’t attack. If there’s a cost associated with having it attack, you aren’t forced to pay that cost, so it doesn’t have to attack in that case either.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#6October 14, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
If an effect stops a token from attacking a specific player, that token can attack any player or planeswalker, or not attack at all. If the effect stops the token from attacking a specific player unless a cost is paid, you don’t have to pay that cost unless you want to attack that player.
No other card is named in this ruling.
#7October 14, 2022· Wizards of the Coast
If one of the tokens somehow is under another player’s control as the delayed triggered ability resolves, you can’t sacrifice that token. It remains on the battlefield indefinitely, even if you regain control of it later.
No other card is named in this ruling.