Card
The Ancient One
Mana cost {U}{B}
Legendary Creature — Spirit God 8/8
Descend 8 — The Ancient One can't attack or block unless there are eight or more permanent cards in your graveyard. {2}{U}{B}: Draw a card, then discard a card. When you discard a card this way, target player mills cards equal to its mana value.
No bracket restriction: playable from bracket 1. 4 official rulings.
- Commander
- Legal
- Printing
- Mythic · LCI · #222
- Cheapest printing
- €1.01
- EDHREC salt
- 0.47
- Color identity
- Black, Blue
- Keywords
- Descend, Mill
Bracket
- B1 Exhibition — allowed: No restriction at this bracket
- B2 Core — allowed: No restriction at this bracket
- B3 Upgraded — allowed: No restriction at this bracket
- B4 Optimized — allowed: No restriction beyond the banned list
- B5 cEDH — allowed: No restriction beyond the banned list
Why
- No Game Changer, mass land denial, extra turn, tutor or two-card combo
How Lotus Vault estimates a bracket
Bracket: Lotus Vault analysis, with Commander Spellbook flags
Combos
No known combos for this card.
Combos: Commander Spellbook
Rulings
- 2023-11-10 · Wizards of the Coast
Once The Ancient One has legally attacked or blocked, removing permanent cards from your graveyard so the descend 8 ability no longer applies won't remove The Ancient One from combat. - 2023-11-10 · Wizards of the Coast
Some descend triggered abilities include intervening "if" clauses (i.e. "if you have [four or eight] permanent cards in your graveyard" in the middle of the ability). Each of these abilities checks your graveyard at the moment it would trigger to see if it does. If you don't have the required number of permanent cards in your graveyard at that time, the ability doesn't trigger at all. If it does trigger, it will check again as it tries to resolve. If you don't have the required number of permanent cards in your graveyard at that time, the ability won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. - 2023-11-10 · Wizards of the Coast
Cards with the ability word "descend N" have abilities that care if you have at least N permanent cards in your graveyard. - 2023-11-10 · Wizards of the Coast
You don't choose a target for The Ancient One's activated ability at the time you activate it. Rather, a second "reflexive" ability triggers when you discard a card this way. You choose a target for that ability as it goes on the stack. Each player may respond to this triggered ability as normal.
Rulings: Scryfall · Wizards of the Coast