Hellbent

Hellbent is an ability word that indicates that a card is better if its controller has no cards in his or her hand. It is found only on cards aligned with the Cult of Rakdos guild, (black and/or red) from Dissension.

Hellbent can be many things, but the common thing is that it is active when the controller of the card with hellbent has no cards in his or her hand. It's written "Hellbent -- [static ability], [self-replacement], [activated ability] and/or [triggered ability].

Rulings

• If a hellbent ability of a spell or permanent is a static ability, the number of cards in its controller's hand is continually checked.
• If a hellbent ability of a spell is a self-replacement that changes the effect of that spell, the number of cards in its controller's hand is checked as the spell resolves. It is not checked when the spell is played.
• If a hellbent ability of a permanent is an activated ability, the number of cards in the permanent's controller's hand is checked when that player tries to play the ability. It is not checked when the ability resolves.
• If a hellbent ability of a permanent is a triggered ability, the number of cards in the permanent's controller's hand is checked both when that ability would trigger and when that ability would resolve. If the player has one or more cards in his or her hand when the ability would trigger, it won't trigger. If the player has one or more cards in his or her hand when the ability would resolve, the ability does nothing.

Examples

Demon's Jester {3}{B}

Creature -- Imp

2/2

Flying

Hellbent -- Demon's Jester gets +2/+1 as long as you have no cards in hand.